My research interests cover a broad field from democratization and autocratization, human rights, party systems and elections, economic reform, taxation, to institutional change and international aid. Since 2017, my work has primarily been concentrated around processes of democracy and autocratization, related to five current major research grants. I am the PI of the research project Breaking BAD: Understanding Backlash Against Democracy in Africa funded by the Research Council of Norway. I am also PI of Autocratization Dynamics: Innovations in Research-Embedded Learning (INPART 2021-2025) and a lead researcher in Rights Activism under Political Uncertainty (RightAct)  FORSKER21 Researcher Project Researcher Project for Scientific Renewal and  ELITE – Elite Political Dynamics in Electoral Autocracies (lead researcher Zambian political parties). I also lead the Zambia country study of Political determinants of sexual and reproductive health in Africa, funded by the RCN, Globvac). I have carried out policy analyzes and studies for organizations such as DFID, SIDA; DFID, the World Bank and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I am a research professor at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI), Bergen (20%). My publication record, after completing my PhD degree (monograph) consists of one monograph, five edited books, a text book at OUP Press (Politics in the Developing World) approximately 110 articles and chapters in peer review journals and books. In my discipline the norm is that authorship follows alphabetical order. Google citations: 3955, h-index 33, i10 index 74.

See my updated CV: CV Rakner 2026

Courses: 

GOV 351: Governing Global Challenges (10 ECTS) https://www4.uib.no/studier/emner/gov351

GOV GOV360-3 – Global: Gendered Autocratization as a global challenge (5 ECTS)  

GOV360-7 – Climate Politics: The Challenge of Autocratization and the Climate Emergency (5 ECTS

PEER REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC WORKS 

1. Gichohi, M. And L. Rakner (2026): «Democratic resilience in Africa: elections, opposition, and social movements, Democratization, DOI:10.1080/13510347.2025.2612278
2. L. Rakner (2026 «Democracy and Democratic Backsliding», Elgar Encyclopedia of African Politics. Kjær, A. M., Khisa, M. & Ndlovu, X. A. (eds.). Edward Elgar Publishing, p. 101-107 6 p
3. Cheeseman, Nic, Dendere, Chipo and Rakner, Lise. (2026) "Chapter 9 The price of the party: How finance shapes political organization in sub-Saharan Africa". De Gruyter Handbook of Political Parties of the Global South, edited by Lise Storm, De Gruyter, pp. 207-220. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111170015-011
4. Gloppen, S., Rakner, L. (2025) Legalized resistance to autocratization in Common Law Africa; Third World Quarterly 46(2), 136–152. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2024.2433699
5. Arriola, L. R., Choi, D. D., Davis, J. M., Phillips, M. L., & Rakner, L. (2025). 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)
6. Stiansen, Øyvind, Haakon Gjerløw, and Lise Rakner. "The politics of litigating and adjudicating electoral disputes: Evidence from Zambia." Electoral Studies 96 (2025): 102955.
7. Rakner L. Strategic Taxation: Fiscal Capacity and Accountability in African States. Perspectives on Politics. 2025;23(3):1134-1135. doi:10.1017/S1537592725101552
8. Söderström J, Rakner L (2024). Imagined solidarity around tax practices: a two-dimensional framework based on motivating logic and group boundaries. The Journal of Modern African Studies 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X24000375
9. Odd-Helge Fjeldstad and Lise Rakner  (2024): Lobbying in tax policy making: The case of VAT-reform in Tanzania ch 6 in Kjær, A. M., Ulriksen, M., & Bak, A. K. (Eds.). (2024). The politics of revenue bargaining in Africa: Triggers, processes, and outcomes. Oxford University Press.
10. Arriola, Leo, Lise Rakner and Nic van de Walle (eds). 2023: Democratic Backsliding in Africa? Autocratization, Resilience and Contention. Oxford University Press. Open access: https://fdslive.oup.com/www.oup.com/academic/pdf/openaccess/9780192867322.pdf
11. 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/10.1080/17531055.2022.2235658
12. Kao, Kristen, Ellen Lust, Lise Rakner, 2022 :Vote-buying, anti-corruption campaigns, and identity in African elections, World Development, Volume 160, 106064, ISSN 0305-750X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106064.
13. Dulani, Boniface, Lise Rakner, Lindsay Benstead, and 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 88: 102501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2021.102501
14. Arriola, Leonardo R., Melanie L. Phillips and Lise Rakner. 2021. “Same Rules, Higher Costs: Women’s Pathways to Candidacy in Zambia.” In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing, edited by Leonardo R. Arriola, Martha Johnson and Melanie L. Phillips. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 
15. Rakner, Lise. 2021 “Don’t Touch My Constitution! Civil Society Resistance to Democratic Backsliding in Africa´s Pluralist Regimes.” Glob Policy 12: 95-105. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12991 
16. 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
17. Ariansen, Anja Maria Steinsland; Gloppen, Siri; Rakner, Lise; Johansson, Kjell Arne; Haaland, Øystein Ariansen. 2020. Time for global health diplomacy. The Lancet. 1691-1692
18. Gloppen, Siri and Lise Rakner. 2020. “LGBT rights in Africa”. In Research Handbook on Gender, Sexuality and the Law, edited by Chris Ashfrod and Alexander Main. Chetlenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788111157
19. Rakner, Lise. 2019. “Democratic Rollback in Africa”. In Oxford Encyclopedia of African Politics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.887.
20. 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.
21. 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
22. 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
23. Rakner, Lise, 2017. “Tax bargains in unlikely places: The politics of Zambian mining taxes”. The Extractive Industries and Society (4), pp. 525-538.
24. Burnell, Peter, Vicky Randall and Lise Rakner (eds.), 2017. Politics in the Developing World. Oxford University Press, 5^th edition. 
25. 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. 
26. 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.
27. 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.
28. Rakner, Lise 2017,: “Governance”, in Burnell, Peter, Vicky Randall and Lise Rakner (eds.), Politics in the Developing World. Oxford University Press, 5^th edition.
29. 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.
30. Gloppen, Siri and L. Rakner 2015. «Norske klimaparadokser», Norsk Statsvitenskapelig Tidsskrift, Vol 31, No. 3, pp  246-256.
31. 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.
32. 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
33. 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.
34. 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.
35. Rakner, Lise, Mette Bakken, 2013. “Elections”, in Nadini Patel and Lars Svåsand (eds.), Government and Politics in Malawi, 2^nd edition. Zomba: Kachere Books.
36. 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.
37. 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.
38. Rakner, Lise, 2011. “Institutionalizing the pro-democracy movements: the case of Zambia's Movement for Multiparty Democracy”, Democratization, Vol. 18 (5) pp. 1106-1124.
39. 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.
40. 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.
41. 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.
42. Rakner, Lise and Nicolas van de Walle, 2009. “Opposition Weakness in Africa”, Journal of Democracy, Vol 20 (3), pp. 108-121.
43. 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)