Kate Baldwin
· Associate Professor of Political Science and Global AffairsYale University · Department of Political Science
Active 1982–2025
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About
Kate Baldwin is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs at Yale University. Her research focuses on political accountability, state building, and the politics of development, with a particular regional emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa. She has authored two books: The Paradox of Traditional Chiefs in Democratic Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Faith in Democracy: The Logic of Church Advocacy for Liberal Democratic Institutions in Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2025). Baldwin's current research projects explore politics in weak states, specifically analyzing how non-state actors such as traditional leaders, churches, and NGOs interact with the national state to influence development and democracy. Her work has been recognized with several awards, including the Gaddis Smith International Book Prize and the prize for the best article published in the previous volume of the American Journal of Political Science.
Research topics
- Sociology
- Political Science
- Public relations
- Social Science
- Business
- Economics
- Public administration
- Law
- Market economy
- Philosophy
Selected publications
Studies in Comparative International Development · 2020 · 52 citations
1st authorCorrespondingWorld Politics · 2023 · 14 citations
1st authorCorrespondingabstract : Prominent scholarship on foreign aid argues that aid can interfere with citizens' ability to hold politicians accountable. One particular concern is that politicians receive undeserved credit for aid projects due to misattribution by voters with low information. But in some cases, politicians exert effort to ensure the success of projects and thus may deserve any credit they receive from voters. The authors show that the credit politicians receive depends both on voter information and…
Annual Review of Political Science · 2025-01-06 · 5 citations
articleOpen access1st authorCorrespondingResearch in political science on traditional authorities has advanced quickly in the past decade, highlighting the diversity of these institutions and how variation among them affects political outcomes. However, existing research often fails to distinguish between three distinct attributes of these institutions: their de facto power, their downward accountability to the communities they lead, and their recognition by the state. This review demonstrates the importance of these conceptual distinc…
World Development · 2023-05-19 · 5 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingQuarterly Journal of Political Science · 2021-11-23 · 5 citations
article1st authorCorrespondingThe problem of traditional leadership is often conceived as one of low accountability due to a single unelected leader having unchecked power within communities. Instead, we argue there are strong norms of collective deliberation in most traditional political institutions. As a result, a key constraint on inclusive decision-making and broad accountability is the composition of traditional leaders’ advisers and councils. We test whether encouragement to broaden advisers to village chiefs in Zimba…
Frequent coauthors
- 52 shared
Eric Mvukiyehe
Duke University
- 51 shared
Shylock Muyengwa
- 10 shared
Dean Karlan
- 9 shared
Christopher Udry
- 9 shared
Ernest Appiah
Pentecost University College
- 5 shared
Joan Ricart-Huguet
- 4 shared
Leah Ceccarelli
University of Cincinnati
- 4 shared
Riley Snor- Ton
University of Illinois System
Education
- 2010
PhD, Political Science
Columbia University
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