Comparative politics

In the project, the researchers will conduct in-depth interviews, public opinion surveys, and experiments in several war-torn countries. The goal is to understand what “justice” means to different people, which actors they trust to implement it, and how these perceptions shape the prospects for sustainable peace.

Principal investigator: Kristen Kao, Associate Professor.

Financier: The Knut & Alice Wallenberg Foundation, 2025.

Political scientist appointed new Wallenberg Academy Fellow

Demscore (acronym for research infrastructure for Democracy, Environment, Migration, Social policy, Conflict, and Representation) brings together some of the world’s leading research infrastructures and databases.

For more information: Demscore

Political development

The Governance and Local Development Institute (GLD) brings together researchers from around the world in a joint effort to explain the relationship between governance and local development. Why do some communities provide safe environments, quality education, adequate healthcare, and other conditions that promote human development, while others do not? Research is carried out in countries such as Malawi and Tunisia.

Read more: Home | GLD

Corruption and governance

The Quality of Government Institute (QoG) is one of the world’s largest research centers in the field of corruption and the quality of governance. Its research focuses on corruption and the importance of reliable, impartial, non-corrupt, non-discriminatory, and competent public institutions. The institute examines the effects of governance on a wide range of policy areas, including health, the environment, social welfare, and poverty.

Read more: The QoG Institute, University of Gothenburg

Democracy and Democratization

The Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem) is an international research institute that measures democracy in a more nuanced way. It hosts the world’s largest database on democracy and democratic development, with more than 600 indicators spanning from 1789 to the present and covering all countries in the world.

Read more: V-Dem Institute – V-Dem