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Let the people have a say

Michael Bratton

Board member

Michael is a co-founder and board member at Afrobarometer

Biography

Michael Bratton, who retired as University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies at Michigan State University in 2018, has worked with Afrobarometer since 1999 as a co-founder, former executive director, and then senior adviser. He previously served on the program staffs of the Rockefeller and Ford foundations and as a visiting scholar at Oxford University, Uppsala University, and the United States Institute of Peace. He is the co-author of the widely cited Democratic Experiments in Africa (Cambridge, 1995) and the author of five other books, including Voting and Democratic Citizenship in Africa (Rienner, 2013) and Power Politics in Zimbabwe (Rienner, 2014).

Areas of interest

Language

English

Countries

Zimbabwe

Publications

External publication

Why public opinion should be used to measure political risk in Africa

External publication

Zambians firmly defend democracy. But will they stand up against Lungu?

PP58: Les Africains désirent des élections transparentes – surtout celles porteuses d’alternance

PP58: Africans want open elections – especially if they bring change

AD290: Meilleure mais perfectible? Comment les Africains perçoivent-ils la prestation des services publics

AD290: Better but not good enough? How Africans see the delivery of public services

PP49: Heal the beloved country: Zimbabwe’s polarized electorate

AD223: Zimbabwe’s presidential race tightens one month ahead of July 30 voting

PP47: Public attitudes toward Zimbabwe’s 2018 elections: Downbeat yet hopeful?

WP5: Democratic and market reforms in Africa: What ‘the people’ say

AD157: Zambia at a crossroads: Will citizens defend democracy?

PP36: Les Africains veulent-ils encore de la démocratie?

PP36: Do Africans still want democracy?

AD112: Des institutions dignes de confiance impactent-elles le développement en Afrique?

AD112: Do trustworthy institutions matter for development? Corruption, trust, and government performance in Africa

BP113: La crise au Mali : attitudes populaires ambivalentes sur la voie à suivre

PP26: The viability of political opposition in Africa: Popular views

WP10: Political economic values and economic reform in Southern Africa

WP157: Political risks facing African democracies: Evidence from Afrobarometer

BP113: Crisis in Mali: Ambivalent popular attitudes on the way forward

WP127: Voting intentions in Africa: Ethnic, economic or partisan?

WP122: Anchoring the “D-Word” in Africa

WP119: Citizen perceptions of local government responsiveness in sub-Saharan Africa

WP105: Rationality, cosmopolitanism, and adjustment fatigue: Public attitudes to economic reform in Zambia

WP104: Do free elections foster capable governments? The democracy-governance connection in Africa

WP99: Vote buying and violence in Nigerian election campaigns

WP95: Voting in Kenya: Putting ethnicity in perspective

WP65: Are you being served? Popular satisfaction with health and education services in Africa

WP63: Voters but not yet citizens: The weak demand for vertical acountability in Africa’s unclaimed democracies

WP62: Delivery of responsiveness? A popular scorecard of local government performance in South Africa

WP60: Where is Africa going? Views from below: A compendium of trends in public opinion in 12 African countries, 1999-2006

WP59: Popular reactions to state repression: Operation Murambatsvina in Zimbabwe

WP58: The political gender gap in Africa: similar attitudes, different behaviors

WP56: Poor people and democratic citizenship in Africa

PP9: L’état d’esprit des Maliens reflète un regain d’espérance

PP9: Mali’s public mood reflects newfound hope

PP11: La demande de démocratie augmente en Afrique, mais la plupart des dirigeants politiques ne répondent pas aux attente

PP11: Demand for democracy is rising in Africa, but most political leaders fail to deliver

PP13: Les Maliens veulent un pays uni et que justice soit faite au lendemain du conflit

PP13: Malians want a united country, post-conflict justice

WP49: Electoral institutions, partisan status, and political support: A natural experiment from Lesotho

WP48: The durability of political goods? Evidence from Nigeria’s new democracy

WP43: State building and democratization in sub-Saharan Africa: Forwards, backwards, or together?

WP42: The power of propaganda: Public opinion in Zimbabwe, 2004

WP34: Afrobarometer Round 2: Compendium of results from a 15-country survey

WP31: Learning about democracy in Africa: Awareness, performance, and experience

WP27: Insiders and outsiders: Varying perceptions of democracy and governance in Uganda

WP23: Poverty, survival and democracy in Southern Africa – 2003

WP20: Down to earth: Changes in attitudes toward democracy and markets in Nigeria

WP19: Wide but shallow: Popular support for democracy in Africa

WP18: Uncritical citizens or patient trustees? Tanzanians’ views of political and economic reform

WP9: Popular perceptions of good governance in Mali

WP7: Public opinion and the consolidation of democracy in Southern Africa

WP6: Uganda’s Referendum 2000: The silent boycott

WP4: Democracy and economy in Uganda: A public opinion perspective

WP3: Attitudes to democracy and markets in Nigeria

WP2: Attitudes to democracy and markets in Ghana

WP1: Support for democracy in Africa: Intrinsic or instrumental?

Public Opinion, Democracy, and Market Reform in Africa

Voting and Democratic Citizenship in Africa

AD1: Malawi’s 2014 Elections: Amid concerns about fairness, outcome is too close to call