Personal statement

Born and educated in the United States, I spent the past 25 years in South Africa (working at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, and teaching at the University of Cape Town, before coming to Strathclyde. My research examines the process of democratization, with a particular focus on Africa and South Africa. I am co-founder and Senior Adviser of Afrobarometer, a regular survey of over 30 countries in Africa (www.afrobarometer.org). I am also co-founder and co-Principal Investigator of the African Legislatures Project, a study of legislatures and legislators in 17 countries(www.cssr.uct.ac.za/alp),and the Principal Investigator of the South African National Election Study, a longitudinal series of post-election surveys dating back to 1994 (www.cssr.uct.ac.za/daru/sanes).

Expertise

Has expertise in:

Survey Research

Comparative Politics

African Politics

South African Politics

United States Politics

Prizes and awards

Visiting Research Scholar, Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies: Recipient; 9/2016
Academy of Science of South Africa: Recipient; 2014
Visiting Scholar, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University: Recipient; 4/2011
STIAS Fellow. Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study: Recipient; 7/2010
Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy: Recipient; 2005
Principal's International Scholar Award. Queen's University: Recipient; 2005

More prizes and awards

Publications

Economic vulnerability and poor service delivery made it more difficult for shack-dwellers to comply with COVID-19 restrictions: Ellison George TH, Mattes Robert B, Rhoma Hanan, de Wet Thea; South African Journal of Science Vol 118, pp. 1-15 (2022); https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2022/13301
Economic vulnerability and poor service delivery made it more difficult for shack-dwellers to comply with COVID-19 restrictions : the impracticability and inequitable burden of universal/unstratified public health policies: Ellison GTH, Mattes RB, Rhoma H, Wet T De; (2022); https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.04.07.22273499
Mapping State Capacity in Africa : Professionalism and Reach: Krönke Matthias, Mattes Robert, Naidoo Vinothan; Afrobarometer Working Papers Afrobarometer Working Papers, No. 190 (2022)
Party structures and organization building in Africa: Lockwood Sarah J, Krönke Matthias, Mattes Robert; Party Politics Vol 28, pp. 203-207 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211041038
Party footprints in Africa : measuring local party presence across the continent: Krönke Matthias, Lockwood Sarah J, Mattes Robert; Party Politics Vol 28, pp. 208-222 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688211008352
South Africa : a united front? A divided government: Mattes Robert, Glenn Ian; Political Communication and COVID-19 Governance and Rhetoric in Times of Crisis (2021) (2021)

More publications

Research interests

I work on issues of democratization primarlily through the tools of survey research but also employ other methods of institutional analysis. I am co-founder and Senior Adviser of Afrobarometer, a regular survey of public opinion in 35 African countries (www.afrobarometer.org). I am also co-founder and co-Principal Investigator of the African Legislatures Project, a study of legislatures and legislators in 17 countries(www.cssr.uct.ac.za/alp). Finally, I am the founder and Principal Investigator of the South African National Election Study, a longitudinal series of post-election surveys dating back to South AFrica's first democratic election of 1994 (www.cssr.uct.ac.za/daru/sanes). These studies are also carried out in association with the Comparative National Elections Project, and Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project.

Professional activities

European Political Science Review (Journal): Peer reviewer; 9/8/2022
Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties (Journal): Peer reviewer; 22/7/2022
Party Politics (Journal): Peer reviewer; 22/7/2022
American Political Science Review (Journal): Peer reviewer; 25/5/2022
Perspectives on Politics (Journal): Peer reviewer; 25/5/2022
South African Review of Sociology (Journal): Peer reviewer; 25/5/2022

More professional activities

Projects

Sustainable Development and Citizenship in Africa (SGSSS award): Mattes, Robert (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2022 - 28-Jan-2026
Political Parties in Africa: Mattes, Robert (Principal Investigator) Seekings, Jeremy (Principal Investigator) Lockwood, Sarah Jane (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2018
African Legislatures Project: Mattes, Robert (Principal Investigator) Mozaffar, Shaheen (Principal Investigator) Barkan, Joel (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2008
Global Barometer Surveys: Chu, Yun-han (Principal Investigator) Mattes, Robert (Principal Investigator) Lagos, Marta (Principal Investigator) Haerpfer, Christian (Principal Investigator) Tessler, Mark (Principal Investigator) Shastri, Sandeep (Principal Investigator); 01-Jan-2000
Afrobarometer: Mattes, Robert (Principal Investigator) Gyimah-Boadi, E. (Principal Investigator) Bratton, Michael (Principal Investigator) Logan, Carolyn (Co-investigator) Dulani, Boniface (Co-investigator) Mitullah, Winnie (Co-investigator); A regular survey of representative samples of citizens in 35 countries across Africa that measures people's well-being, and their preferences, evaluations and experiences with elected leaders and political institutions.; 14-Jan-1998
Southern African Migration Programme: Mattes, Robert (Research Co-investigator) Crush, Jonathan (Principal Investigator) McDonald, David (Principal Investigator); The Southern African Migration Programme (SAMP) is an international network of organizations founded in 1996 to promote awareness of migration-development linkages in SADC. SAMP conducts applied research on migration and development issues, provides policy advice and expertise, offers training in migration policy and management, and conducts public education campaigns on migration-related issues.; 01-Jan-1996

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Address

Politics
McCance Building

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