Lise Rakner is Professor of political science at the Department of Government, University of Bergen. Her research interests cover the fields of democratization and autocratization, with particular emphasis on human rights, electoral politics, political parties and processes of democratic backsliding. Rakner's work also extents to political economy, with an emphasis on economic reforms, taxation, business associations, budget processes and aid effectiveness. She has conducted a number of governance assessment analyses for international agencies and donor governments. She holds an adjunct position at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen. She is the PI of the  following research project Breaking BAD: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa funded by the Research Council of Norway (FRIHUMSAM), see https://www.democraticbacklash.com/. She is also PI of Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning (INPART 2021-2025) and she heads the Zambia country study of Political determinants of sexual and reproductive health in Africa,funded by the RCN, Globvac). In her most recent research projects include  Rights Activism Under Political Uncertainty, she studies NGO activism in Zimbabwe https://www.cmi.no/projects/2706-rights-activism-under-political-uncertainty and PI Norhed:  epistemologies Decolonizing Epistemologies: Disciplines and the University in Relation to the Society and the World (NORHED II)

 

Courses (ongoing):

• Program coordinator: Master in Politics and Governance of Global Challenges https://mitt.uib.no/courses/40371
• GOV 351: Understanding Global Challenges https://www4.uib.no/studier/emner/gov351
• GOV 360-3: Gendered Autocratization as a Global Challenge https://mitt.uib.no/courses/47009
• GOV360-7: Climate Politics: The challenge of autocratization and the climate emergency https://mitt.uib.no/courses/51962
• GOV 100: Innføring i Politikk og Forvaltning
• Bergen Summer research School (BSRS)-PhD Climate Governance (2015), Governance and Inequality (2021)

 

 

 

2025

• Kvernenes, Monika; Tjølsen, Arne; Gilbertson, Simon et al. (2025). Tracing affective trajectories and triggers in university teachers – a mixed methods study. (external link)
• Stiansen, Øyvind; Gjerløw, Haakon; Rakner, Lise (2025). The politics of litigating and adjudicating electoral disputes: Evidence from Zambia. (external link)
• Arriola, Leonardo; Donghyun, Danny Choi; Davis, Justine M. et al. (2025). Policymakers’ Abortion Preferences: Understanding the Intersection of Gender and Wealth. (external link)

2024

• Söderström, Johanna; Rakner, Lise (2024). Imagined solidarity around tax practices: a two-dimensional framework based on motivating logic and group boundaries. (external link)
• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2024). Legalised resistance to autocratisation in common law Africa. (external link)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Rakner, Lise (2024). Lobbying in tax policy making: The case of VAT-reform in Tanzania. (external link)

2022

• Dupuy, Kendra E; Arriola, Leonardo; Rakner, Lise (2022). Political Participation and Regime Responses. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Walle, Nicolas Van de (2022). International Strategies: Sovereignty Claims and Selective Compliance. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Gloppen, Siri; Hinfelaar, Marja (2022). Zimbabwe: Contested Autocratization. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Walle, Nicolas Van de; Hinfelaar, Marja (2022). Zambia: Backsliding in a Presidential Regime. (external link)
• Kao, Kristen; Lust, Ellen; Rakner, Lise (2022). Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections. (external link)
• Hinfelaar, Marja; Rakner, Lise; Sishuwa, Sishuwa et al. (2022). Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections. (external link)

2021

• Arriola, Leonardo; Choi, Danny; Davies, Justine Ina et al. (2021). Paying to party: Candidate resources and party switching in new democracies. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Noen blir absurd rike. (external link)
• Dulani, Boniface; Rakner, Lise; Benstead, Lindsay et al. (2021). Do women face a different standard? The interplay of gender and corruption in the 2014 presidential elections in Malawi,. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Don’t Touch My Constitution! Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding in Africa´s Pluralist Regimes. (external link)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Rakner, Lise (2021). Lobbying and the shaping of tax policies in Tanzania. (external link)
• Hinfelaar, Marja; Kaaba, O'Brien; Zhou, Tony et al. (2021). Comparing legal activism in Zimbabwe and Zambia. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Arriola, Leonardo (2021). Same Rules, Higher Costs: Women’s Pathways to Candidacy in Zambia. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Carl Henrik Knutsen: Demokrati og Diktatur. (external link)

2020

• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2020). LGBT Rights in Africa. (external link)

2019

• Rakner, Lise (2019). Den gode fienden: Fra flytninger til seksuelle minoriteter. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2019). Kvinner som gjør oppgjør. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2019). Kvinner som protesterer. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2019). Democratic Rollback in Africa. (external link)

2018

• Rakner, Lise (2018). Den demokratiske snarveien. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2018). Breaking Bad: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa. (external link)
• Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Wang, Vibeke; Benstead, Lindsay et al. (2018). Why the Gender of Traditional Authorities Matters: Intersectionality and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Malawi. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2018). Diktatorens lærebok: Kapittelet om Tanzania.. (external link)
• Ballen, Cissy J.; Lee, Dahsol; Rakner, Lise et al. (2018). Politics a “Chilly” Environment for Undergraduate Women in Norway. (external link)

2017

• Rakner, Lise (2017). demokrati i forfall. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2017). Vafler for demokratiet. (external link)
• Helle, Svein-Erik; Rakner, Lise (2017). The Impact of Elections: The Case of Uganda. (external link)
• Benstead, Lindsay; Dulani, Boniface; Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise et al. (2017). The Local Governance Performance Index (LGPI) in Malawi: Selected Findings on Gender. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Randall, Vicky (2017). Institutional Perspectives. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2017). Democratization and Regime Change. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2017). Tax bargains in unlikely places: The politics of Zambian mining taxes. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2017). Governance. (external link)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Fundanga, Caleb; Rakner, Lise (2017). The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia. (external link)

2016

• Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise; Rakner, Lise; Skage, Ingvild Aagedal (2016). Political capital of ruling parties after regime change: contrasting successful insurgencies to peaceful pro-democracy movements. (external link)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Fundanga, Caleb; Rakner, Lise (2016). The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia.. (external link)

2015

• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Ngowi, Prosper; Rakner, Lise (2015). Shaping the tax agenda: Public engagement, lobbying and tax reform in Tanzania.. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Gloppen, Siri (2015). Norske klimaparadokser. (external link)

2014

• Helle, Svein-Erik Hansen; Rakner, Lise (2014). Grabbing’ an election: Abuse of state resources in the 2011 elections in Uganda. (external link)
• Eide, Elisabeth; Elgesem, Dag; Gloppen, Siri et al. (2014). Norske paradokser. (external link)
• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise; Vibe, Vegard Furustøl (2014). Stortingsklima. Klima som valgkamptema og norske politikeres syn på klimautfordringene. (external link)
• Vibe, Vegard Furustøl; Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2014). Klimabistand: god bistandspolitikk?. (external link)
• Ferraz, Octavio L. Motta; Gloppen, Siri; Mæstad, Ottar et al. (2014). Judging the price of life: cons considerations in right-to-health litigation. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Randall, Vicky (2014). Institutional Perspectives. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Burnell, Peter (2014). Democracy. (external link)
• Andreassen, Bård A.; Langford, Malcolm; Rakner, Lise (2014). Memorandum:Overview of research findings regarding aid in support of democratization and human rights observance. (external link)

2013

• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2013). “Competition and participation, but no democracy: The politics of elections in Africa´s feckless regimes”. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2013). Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia. (external link)

2012

• Helle, Svein-Erik Hansen; Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2012). I pose og sekk? Klima i norsk utviklingspolitikk etter 2005. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2012). WP/016 Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Helle, Svein-Erik Hansen (2012). The interplay between poverty and electoral authoritarianism: Poverty and political mobilization in Zambia and Uganda. (external link)
• Svåsand, Lars G; Rakner, Lise (2012). Foreign aid, democracy promotion and democratic progress. (external link)

2011

• Rakner, Lise; Burnell, Peter (2011). Governance and Aid Conditionality in a Globalizing World. (external link)
• Mæstad, Ottar; Rakner, Lise; Ferraz, Octavio L. Motta (2011). Assessing the impact of health rights litigation : a comparative analysis of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, India and South Africa. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Vicky, Randall (2011). Institutional Perspectives. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2011). Institutionalizing the pro-democracy movements: the case of Zambia's Movement for Multiparty Democracy. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2011). In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared. (external link)

2010

• Rakner, Lise (2010). The Management of the 2009 Electoral Process. The Role of the Malawi Electoral Commission. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2010). In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared. (external link)

2009

• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2009). Valgets politikk: Betydningen av legale og administrative virkemidler for å beholde makten i Malawi og Uganda. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Walle, Nicolas Van de (2009). Opposition weakness in Africa. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2009). Valgets politikk: Betydningen av administrative og legale virkemidler for å beholde makten i Malawi og Uganda. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; Walle, Nicolas Van de (2009). Opposition Parties and Incumbent Presidents: The New Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Africa. (external link)
• Makara, Sabiti; Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2009). Turnaround: The national resistance movement and the reintroduction of a multiparty system in Uganda. (external link)

2007

• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G; Khembo, Nixon S. (2007). Fissions and fusions, foes and friends - Party system restructuring in Malawi in the 2004 general elections. (external link)
• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2007). Introduction: Coming to grips with the current predicaments of political parties. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise; walle, nicloas van de (2007). Opposition parties in sub-saharan Africa. (external link)

2005

• Rakner, Lise; Wang, Vibeke (2005). The accountability function of supreme audit institutions in Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania. (external link)
• Rakner, Lise (2005). Stuck in Transition: Electoral Processes in Zambia 1991-2001. (external link)
• Svåsand, Lars G; Rakner, Lise (2005). Stuck in Transition: Electoral Processes in Zambia 1991-2001. (external link)

2003

• Bwalya, Eddie; Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2003). The PRSP process in Zambia. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Publications

See Publicationlist in Cristin

Books

Arriola, L., L. Rakner and N. van de Walle  (2023): Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention Oxford University Press. Open access at: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/democratic-backsliding-in-africa-9780192867322?cc=no&lang=en&

Burnell, Peter, Vicky Randall and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2017. Politics in the Developing World. Oxford University Press, 5^th edition.

Elgesem, D., E. Eide, S. Gloppen, and L. Rakner (red.), 2014. Klima, Medier og Politikk. Oslo: Abstrakt

Kiiza, Julius, Sabiti Makara and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2008. Electoral Democracy in Uganda: Understanding the Institutional Dynamics, Processes and Outcomes of the 2006 Multiparty Elections. Kampala: Fountain Publishers.

Gloppen, Siri and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2007: Globalization and Democratization: Challenges for Political Parties. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget.

Rakner, Lise, 2003: Political and Economic Liberalisation in Zambia. Uppsala: The Nordic Africa Institute.

Articles (recent)

Rakner, Lise and Siri Gloppen, 2025: "Legalised resistance to autocratisation in common law Africa", Third World Quarterly, Vol 46, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2024.2433699

Söderström J, Rakner L. Imagined solidarity around tax practices: a two-dimensional framework based on motivating logic and group boundaries. The Journal of Modern African Studies. 2024;62(2):153-173. doi:10.1017/S0022278X24000375

Arriola, L. R., Choi, D. D., Davis, J. M., Phillips, M. L., & Rakner, L. (2024). Policymakers’ Abortion Preferences: Understanding the Intersection of Gender and Wealth. Comparative Political Studies, 58(1), 78-121. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140241237452 (Original work published 2025)

Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge, and Lise Rakner. "The case of VAT reform in Tanzania." The Politics of Revenue Bargaining in Africa Triggers, Processes, and Outcomes Kjær, Anne Mette; S. Ulriksen, Marianne; Bak, Ane Karoline (2024): 128.

Hinfelaar, M.  L. Rakner, S. Sishuwa & N. van de Walle . 2023: «Legal autocratisation ahead of the 2021 Zambian elections, Journal of East African Studies, Vol 16, No 4, pp. 558-575
https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2022.22356

Kristen Kao, Ellen Lust, Lise Rakner (2022): Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections,World Development,Volume 160,2022,106064,ISSN 0305-750X,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106064.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22002546

Boniface Dulani, Lise Rakner, Lindsay Benstead, Vibeke Wang (2021):  Do women face a different standard? The interplay of gender and corruption in the 2014 presidential elections in Malawi. Women's Studies International Forum, Volume 88, 102501 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102501.

Rakner, Lise, 2021: “Don ́t touch my constitution! The role of pro-democracy movements in
African democratic trajectories”. Global Policy Volume12, IssueS5, July 2021, pp 95-105.

Arriola LR, Choi DD, Davis JM, Phillips ML, Rakner L., 2021: «Paying to party: Candidate resources and party switching in new democracies». Party Politics. February 2021. doi:10.1177/1354068821989563

Rakner, Lise, Leonardo Arriola, and Melanie L. Phillips. "Same Rules, Higher Costs: Women’s Pathways to Candidacy in Zambia." Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing (2021).

Rakner, Lise and Siri Gloppen, 2020: “LGBT Rights in Africa”. Research Handbook on
Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing. Open access at: https://www.elgaronline.com/display/edcoll/9781788111140/9781788111140.00022.xml

Rakner, Lise. 2019. “Democratic Rollback in Africa”. In Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.887

Muriaas, Ragnhild L., Vibeke Wang, Lindsay Benstead, Boniface Dulani, and Lise Rakner 2019. “Why the Gender of Traditional Authorities Matters: Intersectionality and Women’s Rights Advocacy in Malawi.” Comparative Political Studies. doi:10.1177/0010414018774369.

Lust, Ellen and Lise Rakner, 2018. “The Other Side of Taxation: Extraction and Social Institutions in the Developing World“, Annual Review of Political Science, 21:1

Ballen, C., Lee, D., Rakner, L., & Cotner, S. 2018. “Politics a “Chilly” Environment for Undergraduate Women in Norway”, PS: Political Science & Politics, 1-6. doi:10.1017/S1049096518000045

Helle, Svein Erik and Lise Rakner, 2017. “The impact of elections. The case of Uganda”, in Gerschewski, Johannes and Christoph Stefes (eds.). Crisis in Autocratic Regimes, Boulder: Lynne Rienner, pp. 111-134.

Rakner, Lise, 2017. “Tax bargains in unlikely places: The politics of Zambian mining taxes”. The Extractive Industries and Society (4), pp. 525-538.

Muriaas, Ragnhild Louise, Lise Rakner, and Ingvild Skage, 2016. “Political capital of ruling parties after regime change: Contrasting successful insurgencies to peaceful pro-democracy movements. Civil Wars, Vol. 18(2) pp. 175-191.

2022-2025 Rights Activism under Political Uncertainty (RightAct) (Research Council of Norway, Scientific Renewal)

2021-2025 Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning (PI)

2017- 2021  Research Council of Norway (FRIHUMSAM): Breaking BAD: Explaining Backlash Against Democracy (PI).

2016-2020: Research Council of Norway (GLOBVAC): Political determinants of sexual and reproductive health in Africa (RNC, lead Researcher Zambia country study

2016-2020:  Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council): Social Institutions and Governance: Lessons from Sub-Sahara Africa (Gothenburg University, co PI with Ellen Lust