Lise Rakner er professor i statsvitenskap ved Institutt for Politikk og Forvaltning Universitetet i Bergen. Forskningsinteressene spenner fra studier av demokrati, med fokus på demokratisk sammenbrudd, menneskerettigheter, partisystem og valg. Rakner's forskning er også knyttet til politisk økonomi, med særlig vekt på økonomiske reformer, utvikling av skattesystem og bistand. Hun har utført en rekke analyser og utredninger for organisasjoner som DFID, SIDA; DFID, Verdensbanken og norsk UD. Hun leder forskningsprosjektet "Breaking BAD: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa" (Frihumsam 2017-2021) og "Autocratization Dynamics" (Inpart/NFR 2022-2025). Hun er ansatt som Forsker II Chr. Michelsen Institutt (CMI), Bergen.

 

Courses

Sampol 105: States and nationbuilding (10 ECTS) (Spring semester)

Sampol 100: Introduction to Comparative Politics (10 ECTS) (Fall semester)

Sampol 219: Politics in the Developing World (10 ECTS) (not on a regular schedule)

Sampol 329: Political Parties in the Developing World (10 ECTS)  (not on a regular schedule)

Sampol 315: Elections and representation (10 ECTS) (not on a regular schedule)

Sampol 314: Elections in New democracies (10 ECTS Master level) (not on a regular schedule)

Sampol 335. Elections and Representation in democracies (10 ECTS Master level) (not on a regular schedule)

Sampol 338: Breaking Bad: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy (10 ECTS Spring 2019)

 

2025

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

2024

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

2022

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

2021

• Arriola, Leonardo; Choi, Danny; Davies, Justine Ina et al. (2021). Paying to party: Candidate resources and party switching in new democracies. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Noen blir absurd rike. (ekstern lenke)
• 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,. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Don’t Touch My Constitution! Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding in Africa´s Pluralist Regimes. (ekstern lenke)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Rakner, Lise (2021). Lobbying and the shaping of tax policies in Tanzania. (ekstern lenke)
• Hinfelaar, Marja; Kaaba, O'Brien; Zhou, Tony et al. (2021). Comparing legal activism in Zimbabwe and Zambia. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise; Arriola, Leonardo (2021). Same Rules, Higher Costs: Women’s Pathways to Candidacy in Zambia. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2021). Carl Henrik Knutsen: Demokrati og Diktatur. (ekstern lenke)

2020

• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2020). LGBT Rights in Africa. (ekstern lenke)

2019

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

2018

• Rakner, Lise (2018). Den demokratiske snarveien. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2018). Breaking Bad: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa. (ekstern lenke)
• 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. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2018). Diktatorens lærebok: Kapittelet om Tanzania.. (ekstern lenke)
• Ballen, Cissy J.; Lee, Dahsol; Rakner, Lise et al. (2018). Politics a “Chilly” Environment for Undergraduate Women in Norway. (ekstern lenke)

2017

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

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. (ekstern lenke)
• Fjeldstad, Odd-Helge; Fundanga, Caleb; Rakner, Lise (2016). The rise and fall of the mining royalty regime in Zambia.. (ekstern lenke)

2015

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

2014

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

2013

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

2012

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

2011

• Rakner, Lise; Burnell, Peter (2011). Governance and Aid Conditionality in a Globalizing World. (ekstern lenke)
• 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. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise; Vicky, Randall (2011). Institutional Perspectives. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise (2011). Institutionalizing the pro-democracy movements: the case of Zambia's Movement for Multiparty Democracy. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise; Svåsand, Lars G (2011). In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared. (ekstern lenke)

2010

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

2009

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

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. (ekstern lenke)
• Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise (2007). Introduction: Coming to grips with the current predicaments of political parties. (ekstern lenke)
• Rakner, Lise; walle, nicloas van de (2007). Opposition parties in sub-saharan Africa. (ekstern lenke)

2005

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

2003

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

Se en full oversikt over publikasjoner i Cristin

PEER REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC WORKS 

Arriola, Leonardo R., Lise Rakner, and Nicolas van de Walle, 'Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention', in Leonardo R. Arriola, Lise Rakner, and Nicolas van de Walle (eds), Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention (Oxford, 2022; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Jan. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192867322.003.0001, accessed 1 July 2025.

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, Issue S5, 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 and Siri Gloppen, 2020: “LGBT Rights in Africa”. Research Handbook on
Gender, Sexuality and the Law. Edward Elgar Publishing.

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, (forthcoming). 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

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

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

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

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.

Gloppen, Siri and L. Rakner 2015. «Norske klimaparadokser», Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift, Vol 31, No. 3, pp  246-256.

Gloppen, L. Rakner og V. Vibe 2014. ”Stortingsklima: Klima som valgkamptema og norske politikeres syn på klimautfordringene”, i, Klima, Medier og Politikk. Oslo: Abstrakt Forlag.

O.L.M. Ferraz, S. Gloppen, O. Mæstad, L. Rakner, 2014. “Judging the price of life: cost considerations in right-to-health litigation” I H.S. Aasen, S. Gloppen, A-M Magnussen, E. Nilssen: Juridification and Social Citizenship in the Welfare State. Edward Elgar Publishing

Helle Svein-Erik and Lise Rakner, 2014. “Grabbing an election: Abuse of state resources in the 2011 elections in Uganda” in Tina Søreide and Aled Williams (eds.): Corruption, Grabbing, and Development. Real World Challenges. London and Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 164-174.

Rakner, Lise and Lars Svåsand, 2013. “Competition and participation, but no democracy: The politics of elections in Africa´s feckless regimes” Statsvetenskapelig Tidskrift, Vol 115, No 4, pp. 365-384.

Rakner, Lise, Mette Bakken, 2013. “Elections”, in Nadini Patel and Lars Svåsand (eds.), Government and Politics in Malawi, 2^nd edition. Zomba: Kachere Books.

Rakner, Lise, 2013: ”Foreign Aid and Democratic Consolidation in Zambia” in Resnick, Danielle and Nicolas van de Walle (eds.): Democratic Trajectories in Africa: Unravelling the Impact of Foreign Aid. Oxford University Press.

Rakner, Lise and Lars Svåsand, 2012. “Foreign aid, democracy promotion and democratic progress”, in Jens Blom-Hansen, Christoffer Green-Pedersen and Svend-Erik Skaaning(eds.): Democracy, Elections and Political Parties. Aarhus: Politica, pp. 39-49.

Rakner, Lise, 2011. “Institutionalizing the pro-democracy movements: the case of Zambia's Movement for Multiparty Democracy”, Democratization, Vol. 18 (5) pp. 1106-1124.

Rakner, Lise and Lars Svåsand, 2010. “In search of the impact of international support for political parties in new democracies: Malawi and Zambia compared”, Democratization, Vol. 17(6) pp. 1250-1274.

Rakner, Lise and Nicolas van de Walle, 2009. “Opposition Parties and Incumbent Presidents: The New Dynamics of Electoral Competition in Africa”, in Staffan Lindberg (ed.) Democratization by Elections. A New Mode of Transition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 202-225.

Makara, Sabiti, Lise Rakner and Lars Svåsand, 2009. “Turnaround: The National Resistance Movement and the Reintroduction of Multiparty-Party System in Uganda, International Political Science Review, Vol. 30 (2), pp. 185-204.

Rakner, Lise and Nicolas van de Walle, 2009. “Opposition Weakness in Africa”, Journal of Democracy, Vol 20 (3), pp. 108-121.

Rakner, Lise, Lars Svåsand and Nixon Khembo, 2007. “Fissions and fusions, foes and friends: Party system restructuring in the 2004 elections in Malawi”, Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 40 (9), pp. 1112-1137.

 

Books

Arriola, Leonardo R., Lise Rakner, and Nicolas van de Walle, 'Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention', in Leonardo R. Arriola, Lise Rakner, and Nicolas van de Walle (eds), Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience, and Contention (Oxford, 2022; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Jan. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192867322.003.0001, accessed 1 July 2025.

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 Forlag

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

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.

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

 

2021-2024        Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning INTPART Internasjonale partnerskap for fremragende utdanning, forskning og innovasjon  (PI)     

2021-2024      Rights Activism under Political Uncertainty (RightAct) (FRIHUMSAM)

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

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

2015 – 2016    Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study (UC Berkeley) grant 2015-2016: “The Bergen-Berkeley Research Program on Political Parties in the Developing World.” Co-PI with Leo Arriola (UC Berkeley)

2016- 2017      Peder Sather Center for Advanced Study (UC Berkeley) grant 2016-2017: “The Bergen-Berkeley Research Program on Political Parties in the Developing World.” Co-PI with Leo Arriola (UC Berkeley)