QoG seminar with Taiwo Ayodeji Ahmed

Abstract:

Revenues from natural resources such as oil, minerals and gas are important to many states around the world. But amidst the increasing reliance on resource revenues in some of these states, there is considerable debate regarding whether citizens demand well-functioning democratic institutions to a lesser extent, depending on the source of government revenues. So, this dissertation project focuses on bottom-up strategies behind democratization, through which citizens call for accountability from - and representation in - their government. Hence, the overarching research question of this dissertation is: How and under what conditions do resource reliance influence citizens’ demand for democracy? I answer my specific research questions using both country- and individual-level evidence.