Anna Persson Email & Phone Number

I work as an associate professor and senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, University of Gothenburg. I am also a researcher and member of the management collegium of the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute. I've previously served as a board member (2021-2024) and Elected Chair (2023-2024) of Transparency International's Swedish chapter. I hold a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Gothenburg (2008), and have a Master’s degree in Political Science from Lund University and McGill University, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the School of Economics and Management at Lund University (both 2002). In the spring of 2021, I added to my competence the degree of Master of Science with a major in Journalism with Specialization Investigative Journalism from the University of Gothenburg.My primary fields of interest concern the comparative politics and comparative political economy of development and democratization. Especially, my research focuses on the relationship between formal and informal institutions, individual and collective behavior, and the willingness and capacity of political elites to provide goods that serve the broader public, as well as the factors that influence the likeliness that citizens will collectively mobilize to demand such goods. I have written extensively on corruption and anti-corruption reform, the role of political will in reform efforts, taxation as a source of accountable government, and the role of state capacity in fostering democratic governance. I currently run the project The Power of Ideas: New Perspectives on State Capacity and Public Goods Provision in Emerging Democracies (financed by the Swedish Research Council).In addition to my academic research, I serve as an expert and consultant (talks, lectures, programme development, evaluations etc.) to such organizations and government authorities as the OECD/DAC, EBA (The Expert Group for Aid Studies), UNCDF, Sida (The Swedish Agency for Development Cooperation), ICLD (Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy), Swedish Tax Agency, the Swedish National Audit Office, and the Swedish Mapping, Cadastral, and Land Registration Authority.