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Joseph Asunka

Central management team
Joseph Asunka is the chief executive officer at Afrobarometer.

Biography

Joseph Asunka has served as CEO of Afrobarometer since April 2021. He was previously program officer in the Global Development and Population program at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where he managed a portfolio of grants that support efforts to increase transparency and accountability in fiscal governance and foster citizen participation to improve public services in developing countries.

Before joining Hewlett, Joseph was a lecturer in political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he taught courses on African politics, political economy of development, research methods, and data analysis. Prior to that, he was program officer at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, a Core Partner of Afrobarometer. He served as data manager for Afrobarometer prior to his PhD studies at UCLA.

Joseph’s research interests include distributive politics, elections and electoral processes, and migration. He has published in journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, Research and Politics, and Population Research and Policy Review. Born in Ghana, Joseph holds a PhD in political science from UCLA.

Areas of interest

Language

Publications

Dispatch
AD923: Dignity and respect in African public service delivery: A hidden driver of the global promise to leave no one behind
18 Dec 2024
Dispatch
AD923: Dignité et respect dans les services publics en Afrique : Facteur invisible de l’engagement mondial de ne laisser personne pour compte
18 Dec 2024
Dispatch
AD771: Veiled transparency: Access to public information remains elusive despite progress on right-to-information laws
22 Feb 2024
Dispatch
AD771: Transparence voilée : L’information publique demeure difficile d’accès en dépit des progrès de la législation sur le droit à l’information
22 Feb 2024
Dispatch
AD734: Africa’s youth: More educated, less employed, still unheard in policy and development
15 Nov 2023
Dispatch
AD734: Jeunesse d’Afrique : Plus instruite, moins embauchée, toujours absente dans les débats politiques et de développement
15 Nov 2023
External publication
Will Africans’ calls for better democracy be met?
3 Aug 2022
External publication
The Military in Politics: Does Democracy have a Future in Africa?
1 Jan 2023
External publication
Countering China on the Continent: A Look at African Views
23 Jun 2021
External publication
The future Africans want
7 Jul 2021
External publication
U.S.-China “competition” is a win-win in the eyes of ordinary Africans
1 Jan 2022
Dispatch
AD452: Access denied: Freedom of information in Africa falls short of public expectations
19 May 2021
Policy paper
PP5: Une politique gouvernementale décevante : les Africains privilégient la qualité à la quantité en matière de services sociaux
11 Dec 2013
Policy paper
PP5: What people want from government: Basic services performance ratings, 34 countries
11 Dec 2013