Anna Persson
Senior Lecturer
Department of PoliticalAbout Anna Persson
Presentation
Anna Persson is associate professor and senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg. She is also a member of the management collegium of the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute, as well as an elected board member of Transparency International's Swedish chapter. She holds her Ph.D. in political science from the University of Gothenburg, and has a Master’s degree in Political Science from Lund University and McGill University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the School of Economics and Management at Lund University. In the spring of 2021, she added to her competence the degree of Master of Science with a major in Journalism with Specialization Investigative Journalism from the University of Gothenburg. She has previously been a visiting scholar at the Department of Political Science at UCLA and at the Department of Business and Politics at Copenhagen Business School.
Research
Persson’s primary fields of interest concern the comparative politics and comparative political economy of development and democratization. Especially, her research focuses on the relationship between formal and informal institutions, individual and collective behavior, and the willingness and capacity of political elites to provide goods that serve the broader public, as well as the factors that influence the likeliness that citizens will collectively mobilize to demand such goods. She has written extensively on corruption and anti-corruption reform, the role of political will in reform efforts, taxation as a source of accountable government, and the role of state capacity in fostering democratic governance. Together with Frida Boräng and Ruth Carlitz, Persson currently runs the project The Power of Ideas: New Perspectives on State Capacity and Public Goods Provision in Emerging Democracies (financed by the Swedish Research Council).
Persson’s research appears in, among other venues, Governance, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Politics, and at Palgrave Macmillan and Oxford University Press. In addition to her academic research, Persson has served as an advisor and consultant to such organizations as The Swedish Agency for Development Cooperation (Sida), OECD/DAC, The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA), UNCDF, Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD), Swedish Tax Agency, Swedish National Audit Office, and Swedish Mapping, Cadastral, and Land Registration Authority.
Teaching and tutoring
Persson teaches both at the undergraduate and graduate level and is also the course coordinator of the undergraduate course Applied Qualitative Research Methods, Problems and Design (SF2323), as well as of part of the course Metod och Uppsatssamordning (SK1313). At both these courses, she also teaches research design and qualitative methods. She moreover serves as a supervisor at the undergraduate as well as graduate level.
Selected publications
Persson, Anna. 2021. “Bringing Politics Back In: Ethnic Fractionalization, Quality of Government, and Public Goods Provision Revisited.” In Bågenholm, Andreas et al. (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Quality of Government. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Persson, Anna, and Rothstein, Bo. 2019. "Lost in Transition: A Bottom-Up Perspective on Hybrid Regimes." Annals of Comparative Democratization 17(3): 10-12.
Persson, Anna, Rothstein, Bo, and Teorell Jan. 2019. “Getting the Basic Nature of Systemic Corruption Right.” Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 32 (4): 799-810.
Persson, Anna, and Sjöstedt, Martin. 2018. “Den svaga staten: demokrati och förvaltning i utvecklingsländer.” In Carl Dahlström (Ed.), Politik som organisation: förvaltningens grundproblem, 6th edition, Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Persson, Anna. 2017. “The Modern State: Characteristics, Capabilities, and Consequences.” In Burnell, Peter, Rakner, Lise, and Randall, Vicky (Eds.), Politics in the Developing World, 5th edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Persson, Anna, and Sjöstedt, Martin. 2015. “The Political and Historical Origins of Good Government: How Social Contracts Shape Elite Behavior.” In Carl Dahlström and Lena Wängnerud (Eds.), Elites, Institutions, and the Quality of Government, Palgrave MacMillan.
Persson, Anna, and Rothstein Bo. 2015. “It’s My Money: Why Big Government May Be Good Government.” Comparative Politics 47(2): 231-249.
Persson, Anna, Rothstein, Bo, and Teorell, Jan. 2013. “Why Anti-Corruption Reforms Fail – Systemic Corruption as a Collective Action Problem.” Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration, and Institutions 26(3): 449-471.
Persson, Anna, and Sjöstedt, Martin. 2012. “Responsive and Responsible Leaders: A Matter of Political Will?” Perspectives on Politics 10(3): 617-632.
Persson, Anna, and Sjöstedt, Martin. 2012. “State Legitimacy and the Corruptibility of Leaders.” In Bo Rothstein and Sören Holmberg (Eds.), Good Government: The Relevance of Political Science. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edwar Elgar Publishing Ltd.
Persson, Anna, Rothstein, Bo, and Teorell Jan. 2012. “Rethinking the Nature of the Grabbing Hand: The Collective Action Problem of Systemic Corruption.” In Bo Rothstein and Sören Holmberg (Eds.), Good Government: The Relevance of Political Science. Cheltenham, U.K.: Edwar Elgar Publishing Ltd.
Persson, Anna. 2008. The Institutional Sources of Statehood – Assimilation, Multiculturalism, and Taxation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Doctoral dissertation in political science, included as number 111 in the Series Göteborg Studies in Politics, edited by Bo Rothstein, Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg (ISBN: 978-91-89246-36-2, ISSN: 0346-5942).
Articles and opinion pieces in newspapers and magazines, as well as media participation
Expert commentator in Juniornyheterna Special: Europas sista diktatur, Sveriges Radio, August 2020.
Esaiasson, Peter, Persson, Anna, and Winqvist, Johanna. 2019. "Gårdstensmodellen är ingen mirakelkur." GP Debatt, March 1st, 2019.
Persson, Anna. 2012. "Vässa åtgärder mot korruption." Sydsvenskan Opinion, Aktuella frågor, December 5th, 2012.
Outreach (consultancies, seminars, lectures, talks, etc.)
Sida. Development of the course "Corruption in Academic Research." December, 2021.
Sida. Bildning & Debatt. Talk and panel discussion on " Quality of Government (QoG), Democracy & Development," November, 2021.
Swedish Tax Agency. OIP-dagen 2021. Talks on "The Importance of Quality of Government" (Vikten av god samhällsstyrning) samt "How get Quality of Government?" (Hur få god samhällsstyrning?), September, 2021.
Sida. Launch of Myndighetsnavet at Myndighetsforum. Talk on "The Importance of Well-functioning Political Institutions (QoG) (Vikten av välfungerande samhällsinstitutioner (QoG))," March 2021.
Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Panel discussion on "Rethinking Anti-Corruption Reform: Diagnosis v. Remedy" (with Paul Heywood, Senada Selo Sabic, Jasmin Mujanovic and Aleksandar Brezar), conference "Time to Act: Reality of Anti-corruption Policies," Sarajevo, November 2019.
Transparency International in Bosnia and Herzegovina. TI School of Integrity, "The Electoral Roots of Corruption: A Dynamic Approach to Hybrid Regimes," Sarajevo, November 2019.
Stockholm Senior University, "The Problem of Corruption (Korruption som samhällsproblem)," Stockholm, November 2019.
University of Gothenburg, panel discussion on "Global Cooperation in a Polarized Time" (with Ulrika Modéer, Eva Ekelund, Efraim Gomez, Annica Kronsell, and Per Nordlund), Gothenburg, October 2019.
Peru's Supreme Audit Institution, "CAII 2018, Preventing Corruption: From a Reactive to a Proactive State," Lima, December 2018.
Policy Dialogue Day at the University of Gothenburg, "The Democratic Roots of Corruption,” Gothenburg, May 2018.
The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral, and Land Registration Authority & Sida, Lectures within International Training Programme (ITP) on "Applied Land Governance", Gävle, September, 2017.
Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, "Systemic Corruption as a Social Dilemma (Utbredd korruption som ett socialt dilemma)," Stockholm, May 2015.
ICLD & UNCDF, Programme planning, lectures, and mentoring within International Training Programme (ITP) on "Towards Local Democracy and Local Development Through Local Government," Gothenburg, Lusaka, Kigali, and Kampala, 2011-2013.
ICLD, Lectures and mentoring within International Training Programme (ITP) on "Decentralization and Good Governance with a Gender Perspective," Gothenburg, 2010-2012.
Samhällsvetenskapens dag at the University of Gothenburg, "The State and the (Very) Private Sphere: HIV as a Political Problem(Staten och den (väldigt) privata sfären: HIV som ett statsvetenskapligt problem), (with Martin Sjöstedt), Gothenburg, October 2011.
Göteborg Book Fair, Panel discussion on "Foreign Aid and Corruption" (with Molly Lien, Martin Sjöstedt, Nicholas Charron, and Monica Bauhr), Gothenburg, September 2011.
The Swedish National Audit Office, "The Logic of Corruption in Sweden and in the Developing World (Korruptionens logik i Sverige och i utvecklingsländer)," Stockholm, January 2011.
The Swedish National Audit Office, "The Drivers of Corruption: Why Some Countries Are More Corrupt than Others (Korruptionens drivkrafter: Varför är vissa länder mer korrupta än andra?)," Stockholm, April 2011.
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Who Pays for Distributive Politics? Reassessing the Patronage State in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson, Elise Tengs
ECPR Joint Sessions, Edinburgh & Online, April 19-22, 2022 - 2022 -
Bringing Politics Back In: Ethnic Fractionalization, Quality of Government, and Public Goods Provision
Revisited
Anna Persson
Oxford Handbook of Quality of Government - 2021 -
Who Pays for Distributive Politics? Reassessing the Patronage State in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson, Elise Tengs
NoPSA, August 10-13, 2021, University of Iceland (online) - 2021 -
Watchdog or Corrupt Ally? The Monitoring Role of Journalists in the Face of Corrupt
Rule.
Anna Persson
QoG Conference, August 23-25, 2021. - 2021 -
Getting the basic nature of systemic corruption
right
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein, Jan Teorell
Governance - 2019 -
The Power of Ideas: The Importance of the State's Ideational Reach for Understanding State
Capacity
Frida Boräng, Ruth D Carlitz, Anna Persson
State Capacity Workshop, University of Gothenburg, June 10-11, 2019 - 2019 -
The Power of Ideas: Understanding State Capacity Through Ideational Reach and Relative
Power
Frida Boräng, Ruth D Carlitz, Anna Persson
QoG Annual Conference, Tanumstrand, August 19-21, 2019 - 2019 -
The Democratic Roots of Corruption: Clientelism, Complicity, and Citizens' Limited Demand for Accountability in the Face of Reverse
Sequencing
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., August 29-September 1, 2019. - 2019 -
Lost In Transition: A Bottom-Up Perspective on Hybrid
Regimes
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
Annals of Comparative Democratization - 2019 -
Gårdstensmodellen är ingen
mirakelkur
Peter Esaiasson, Anna Persson, Johanna Winqvist
GP Debatt - 2019 -
The Democratic Roots of Corruption: Clientelism, Complicity, and Citizens' Limited Demand for Accountability in the Face of Reverse
Sequencing
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
Policy Dialogue Day 2018, May 30th, Gothenburg - 2018 -
Who Pays for Distributive Politics? Ethnic and Regional Favoritism in the Distribution of the Burden of Taxes, Fees, and Bribes in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson, Elise Tengs
The Quality of Government (QoG) Institute Annual Conference, Smögen, August 20-22, 2018. - 2018 -
Den svaga staten: Demokrati och förvaltning i
utvecklingsländer
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Politik som organisation, 6th edition - 2018 -
The Historical-Institutional Sources of Statehood: Indirect versus Direct Rule at Independence and the Making of the Postcolonial (Modern)
State
Anna Persson
114th American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting, Boston, August 28-September 2nd, 2018 - 2018 -
The Modern State: Characteristics, Capabilities, and
Consequences
Anna Persson
Politics in the Developing World - 2017 -
Democratic Failure from the Bottom-Up. Distorted Fiscal Contracts and the Demand for Clientelism in Developing
Democracies
Frida Boräng, Anna Persson
The 59th Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. Washington: 1-3 December - 2016 -
The Political and Historical Origins of Good Government: How Social Contracts Shape Elite
Behavior
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Elites, Institutions and the Quality of Government - 2015 -
It’s My Money: Why Big Government May Be Good
Government
Bo Rothstein, Anna Persson
Comparative politics - 2015 -
Why Anticorruption Reforms Fail - Systemic Corruption as a Collective Action
Problem
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein, Jan Teorell
Governance-an International Journal of Policy Administration and Institutions - 2013 -
State Legitimacy and the Corruptibility of
Leaders
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Good government : the relevance of political science / edited by Sören Holmberg and Bo Rothstein - 2012 -
Responsive and Responsible Leaders: A Matter of Political
Will?
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Perspectives on Politics - 2012 -
Why Big Government is Good
Government
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
APSA, Seattle 2011 - 2011 -
Who is at risk? The problem of HIV/AIDS according to PEPFAR, The World Bank, and
UNAIDS
Martin Sjöstedt, Anna Persson, Petter Frizén
Presentation at the Quality of Government (QoG) conference in Skagen - 2011 -
To eat or not to eat while in office? The Impact of State legitimacy on Political
Corruption
Martin Sjöstedt, Anna Persson
Presented at the Quality of Government Conference in Skagen - 2011 -
Why Big Government is Good
Government
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
QoG Conference, Prague - 2010 -
Why Big Government is Good
Government
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein
QoG Conference, Prague - 2010 -
Beyond Political Will and
Leadership
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
QoG Conference, Prague - 2010 -
A deadly mismatch? The problem of HIV/AIDS in research and policy
(2010).
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
QoG Working Paper Series - 2010 -
The failure of anti-corruption policies: A theoretical mischaracterization of the
problem
Anna Persson, Bo Rothstein, Jan Teorell
QoG Working Paper Series - 2010 -
Development or Decay? How Threats During Formative Periods of State Development Affect Institutional Quality
Today
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Annual Meeting of American Political Science Association, Washington D.C. 2010 - 2010 -
Den svaga staten: Demokrati och förvaltning i
utvecklingsländer
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
Politik som organisation - 2010 -
Reviewing and Reassessing the Problem of
HIV/AIDS
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
American Political Science Association (APSA) - 2009 -
The Determinants of Institutional Quality - The Impact of Leaders’ Perceived Threats of Losing Power without Compensation on Economic Development in Africa and
Asia
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
International Studies Association Annual Meeting - 2009 -
Government Structures and HIV/AIDS – A Comparative
Study
Martin Sjöstedt, Anna Persson
International Studies Association Annual Meeting - 2009 -
The Institutional Sources of Statehood - Assimilation, Multiculturalism and Taxation in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson
2008 -
Government Structures and Behavior Change in the Politics of
HIV/AIDS
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
International Studies Association - 2008 -
• Government Structures and Behavior Change in the Politics of
HIV/AIDS
Anna Persson, Martin Sjöstedt
2008 -
• The Sources of Variation in Empirical Statehood – The Impact of Assimilation and Ethnic Group Rights on Patterns of Taxation in a Sub-Saharan African Comparative
Perspective
Anna Persson
2008 -
• Combating HIV/AIDS – A Comparative Study of the Impact of
Decentralization.
Martin Sjöstedt, Anna Persson
Conference Paper presented at the 50th Annual Meeting, African Studies Association. New York, October 2007, at the Quality of Government Institute working conference in Nice, October 23-26, 2007, and at the NFU Conference ‘Making Institutions Work for the Poor’ held in Bergen, November 5-7, 2007. - 2007 -
• The Politics of Taxation – Ideas, Interests, and the Potential Indivisibility of
States
Anna Persson
Prepared for presentation at the Department of Political Science, Göteborg University - 2007 -
• Ethnic Diversity and Tax Capacity – Outline of a
study
Anna Persson
ISA's Annual Meeting, San Diego, USA - 2006 -
• Ethnic Diversity and Tax Compliance in a Comparative
Perspective
Anna Persson
IPSA's Meeting, Fukuoka, Japan, July, 2006 - 2006 -
• The Institutional Sources of Nationhood – Citizenship and the varying Capacity of States in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson
Annual Meeting of the Swedish Political Science Association - 2006 -
The Power of Official Imagination – Citizenship, Identity and Tax State Development in Sub-Saharan
Africa
Anna Persson
International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen - 2006 -
• The Institutional Sources of Tax State Development – Multiculturalism versus
Assimilation
Anna Persson
Department of Political Science, Göteborg University - 2006