full-time faculty teaching and conducting research in political science
of Maxwell faculty conduct research focused outside of the U.S.
graduate students in residence; fewer than 12 admitted each year
Undergraduate Studies
Graduate Studies
![Mazaher Kaila](/images/default-source/testimonials/mazaher-kaila-560.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=b090e10a_1)
I am Maxwell.
Civic engagement is a core value for me. I have always aspired to help the communities I’m from.” Mazaher Kaila, a Maxwell alumna and third-year student at Syracuse University's College of Law, moved with her family from Sudan to Central New York when she was four years old. “I realized that to make meaningful change in society, I needed to understand the systems that power it—government and politics—and that’s insight I would gain by studying political science.”
Mazaher Kaila ’19, L’22
political science, law
Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don’t Always Fall Apart
Erin Hern
Lynne Rienner Publishers, March 2023
![hern-erin-explaining-successes-in-africa](https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/images/default-source/book-covers/hern-erin-explaining-successes-in-africa.jpg?sfvrsn=7f7bb4ce_1)
Erin Hern, associate professor of political science, has written “Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don’t Always Fall Apart” (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2023), that explores how African countries have achieved political and economic success.
Rather than focusing on the barriers for reaching potential outcomes, Hern concentrates on normalizing the success of countries and analyzing their progress amid adverse circumstances.
In each chapter, Hern profiles two main countries and two shadow countries. The two main countries are those that performed well on a performance indicator, while the shadow cases are countries that are very similar to the main countries but had less success as measured by the performance indicator.
Hern evaluates each according to theories of comparative politics to understand each country's progress, examining factors such as institutions, structural conditions and individual agency. The numerous countries explored include Gabon, Botswana, Uganda, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, South Africa and Rwanda.
Hern is a senior research associate for the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration. Her specialties include comparative politics, African politics, political participation, and women and gender. She received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2015.
From the Publisher:
What does it take for African countries to achieve political and economic successes? Scholarship on Africa tends to focus on the barriers to reaching desired outcomes. While recognizing that these barriers are very real, Erin Hern takes a contrary, unabashedly optimistic approach: rather than treating countries that perform well as "miracles," she seeks to normalize their success, analyzing the performance of those that have made good choices in the face of adverse circumstances.
Hern shows how most-similar and most-different cases can be used to test major explanatory theories. Making the topic accessible to nonexperts, in each of five issue chapters she highlights two countries that have performed well, evaluates which theories can best explain their successes, and then turns to two shadow cases (countries that have not performed as well) to evaluate whether those theories remain plausible. Including an opening chapter that introduces the theory and methods of comparative politics, this provocative book is ideal for classroom use.
Published in the Spring 2023 issue of the Maxwell Perspective
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BaoBao Zhang Joins First Cohort of AI2050 Early Career Fellows
One of only 15 scholars chosen from across the U.S., Zhang will receive up to $200,000 in research funding over the next two years. Zhang will use the funding to partner with the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for New Democratic Processes to test whether public participation in AI governance is increased through the creation of public assemblies, known as “deliberative democracy workshops.”
Baobao Zhang
Assistant Professor, Political Science Department
![Baobao Zhang](/images/default-source/people-listings/baobao-zhang.jpg?Status=Master&sfvrsn=94c9b54_7)
Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don’t Always Fall Apart
Erin Hern
Lynne Rienner Publishers, March 2023
![hern-erin-explaining-successes-in-africa](https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/images/default-source/book-covers/hern-erin-explaining-successes-in-africa.jpg?sfvrsn=7f7bb4ce_1)
Erin Hern, associate professor of political science, has written “Explaining Success in Africa: Things Don’t Always Fall Apart” (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2023), that explores how African countries have achieved political and economic success.
Rather than focusing on the barriers for reaching potential outcomes, Hern concentrates on normalizing the success of countries and analyzing their progress amid adverse circumstances.
In each chapter, Hern profiles two main countries and two shadow countries. The two main countries are those that performed well on a performance indicator, while the shadow cases are countries that are very similar to the main countries but had less success as measured by the performance indicator.
Hern evaluates each according to theories of comparative politics to understand each country's progress, examining factors such as institutions, structural conditions and individual agency. The numerous countries explored include Gabon, Botswana, Uganda, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, South Africa and Rwanda.
Hern is a senior research associate for the Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration. Her specialties include comparative politics, African politics, political participation, and women and gender. She received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2015.
From the Publisher:
What does it take for African countries to achieve political and economic successes? Scholarship on Africa tends to focus on the barriers to reaching desired outcomes. While recognizing that these barriers are very real, Erin Hern takes a contrary, unabashedly optimistic approach: rather than treating countries that perform well as "miracles," she seeks to normalize their success, analyzing the performance of those that have made good choices in the face of adverse circumstances.
Hern shows how most-similar and most-different cases can be used to test major explanatory theories. Making the topic accessible to nonexperts, in each of five issue chapters she highlights two countries that have performed well, evaluates which theories can best explain their successes, and then turns to two shadow cases (countries that have not performed as well) to evaluate whether those theories remain plausible. Including an opening chapter that introduces the theory and methods of comparative politics, this provocative book is ideal for classroom use.
Published in the Spring 2023 issue of the Maxwell Perspective
Related News
Commentary
![Kristen Patel](/images/default-source/people-listings/kristen-patel.tmb-peoplehead.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=210d7e52_9)
Jul 29, 2024
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![Daniel McDowell](/images/default-source/people-listings/daniel-mcdowell.tmb-peoplehead.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=2becb681_7)
Jul 15, 2024
Commentary
![Brian Taylor](/images/default-source/people-listings/brian-taylor.tmb-peoplehead.jpg?Culture=en&sfvrsn=2222ec96_7)
Jul 12, 2024