Nic Cheeseman

Cheeseman read politics, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford, and then received an MPhil and DPhil in politics from the same university. He was elected as a Cox Fellow at New College, but left in 2006 to take up the position of associate professor of African politics at Jesus College, Oxford. He served as the director of Oxford's African Studies Centre, before moving to the University of Birmingham in January 2017 to become the professor of democracy and international development.{{Cite web|url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/gov/cheeseman-nic.aspx|title=Professor Nic Cheeseman - International Development Department - University of Birmingham|website=www.birmingham.ac.uk|access-date=2019-10-29}} In 2022, he became the inaugural Director of the University's new centre of Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation.

He has held a number of visiting professorships, including at Sciences Po, the University of Cape Town, and the Australian National University."[http://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/en/content/oxpo Sciences Po: OxPo]". Sciences Po. Retrieved 2019-11-6.

Cheeseman's work initially focused on African politics, including his 2015 monograph Democracy in Africa. He subsequently broadened his writing to look at democracy and elections globally, writing Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective with Paul Chaisty and Tim Power, and How to Rig an Election with Brian Klaas.{{Cite web |title=African Politics (4-vol. set) |url=https://www.routledge.com/African-Politics-4-vol-set/Cheeseman/p/book/9781138901650 |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Routledge & CRC Press |language=en}}

Further books followed, including Authoritarian Africa: Repression, Resistance and the Power of Ideas, with Jonathan Fisher in 2019, and The Moral Economy of Elections: Democracy, Voting, and Virtue, with Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis in 2020. In 2022, Cheeseman established a research project on the history of African political thought. This included co-founding a research network for the study of ideas and ideologies in African politics – IDAP, that seeks to encourage collaborative research on this topic across borders and different generations of scholars.{{Cite journal |last=Morse |first=Yonatan L. |date=March 2021 |title=Authoritarian Africa: repression, resistance, and the power of ideas by Nic Cheeseman and Jonathan Fisher New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2020. Pp. xxxii + 144. |journal=The Journal of Modern African Studies |language=en |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=126–128 |doi=10.1017/S0022278X20000695 |s2cid=233863695 |issn=0022-278X|doi-access=free }}

Cheeseman was co-editor of African Affairs between 2012 and 2016.{{Cite web|url=https://academic.oup.com/afraf/pages/Editorial_Board|title=Editorial_Board|website=Oxford Academic|access-date=2019-10-29}} In 2016, he was appointed founding Editor-in-Chief of Oxford University Press's Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics now co-edits a book series on African Politics and International Relations for Oxford University Press.{{cite web |title=Dr Nic Cheeseman appointed the founding Editor in Chief of the Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics |url=https://www.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/nic-cheeseman-appointed-the-founding-editor-in-chief-of-the-oxford-encyclopaedia-of-african-politics.html |website=www.politics.ox.ac.uk |access-date=16 July 2021}}

Between 2013 and 2017, Cheeseman wrote a bi-weekly column for Kenya's Sunday Nation, covering topics such as elections, decentralization and corruption.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/50-events-that-shaped-kenya/|title=50 events that shaped Kenya|last=Goet|first=Niels|website=OxPol|access-date=2019-10-29}} In 2017, however, he resigned from the newspaper, along with a number of colleagues, to protest against government censorship.{{cite web |title=Eight columnists quit Kenya media giant citing 'meddling by gov't and management' |url=https://www.africanews.com/2018/03/27/eight-columnists-quit-kenya-newspaper-citing-meddling-by-gov-t-and-management// |website=Africanews |access-date=16 July 2021 |language=en |date=27 March 2018}} Since then he has written a regular column for the Africa Report, runs a collaboration with The Continent, the Pan-African Magazine, and regularly writes for South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper.{{Cite web|url=http://democracyinafrica.org/about-dia/,%20http://democracyinafrica.org/about-dia/|title=About DiA {{!}} Democracy in Africa|access-date=2019-10-29}} He also regularly writes for The Economist,{{Cite web |title=Nic Cheeseman, Professor of Democracy, University of Birmingham |url=https://www.investafrica.com/personel/nic-cheeseman |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Invest Africa |language=en-GB}} Le Monde,{{Cite news |date=2022-08-08 |title=Kenya braces for high-stakes, high-risk presidential election |language=en |work=Le Monde.fr |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/08/08/kenya-braces-for-high-stakes-high-risk-presidential-election_5992910_4.html |access-date=2022-09-30}} Financial Times,{{Cite news |date=2021-12-23 |title=Letter: Ethiopia needs a new model to heal its ancient divisions |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/4db68c3f-3b02-4e9d-859e-910fa0d1d8ea |access-date=2022-09-30}} Newsweek,{{Cite web |date=2016-12-10 |title=How democracy looks different in Ghana |url=https://www.newsweek.com/how-democracy-looks-different-ghana-530588 |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} the Washington Post,{{Cite news |title=Opinion {{!}} It's time for international election monitors to start doing their job |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/11/15/its-time-for-international-election-monitors-to-start-doing-their-job/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |issn=0190-8286}} New York Times,{{Cite news |last=Walsh |first=Declan |date=2022-09-02 |title=In Kenyan Elections, the People Decide First. Then Come the Judges. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/world/africa/kenya-election-supreme-court.html |access-date=2022-09-30 |issn=0362-4331}} and the BBC.{{Cite news |date=2022-02-08 |title=Coups in Africa: Why they don't spell the end of democracy |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60289571 |access-date=2022-09-30}}

In 2020, Cheeseman was part of a team that founded the Resistance Bureau, an international webinar that aims to promote freedom and resist repression. Its regular shows include activists, leaders and civil society representatives.{{Cite web |title=Episodes |url=https://www.theresistancebureau.com/episodes |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=The Resistance Bureau |language=en-US}} He also co-edits democracyinafrica.org, a website for academics, policymakers, practitioners and citizens on African politics.{{Cite web |last=Africa |first=Democracy in |date=2020-07-02 |title=Introducing The Resistance Bureau! {{!}} Democracy in Africa |url=https://democracyinafrica.org/introducing-resistance-bureau/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}

Cheeseman's doctorate, The rise and fall of civil-authoritarianism in Africa: patronage, participation, and political parties in Kenya and Zambia,{{cite news |title=The rise and fall of civil-authoritarianism in Africa : patronage, participation, and political parties in Kenya and Zambia |url=https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.439711 |oclc=124073047 |date=2007}} was awarded the Arthur McDougall Dissertation Prize by the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom for the Best Dissertation on Elections, Electoral Systems or Representation in 2008.

In 2013, an article on "Rethinking the 'presidentialism debate': Conceptualizing coalitional politics in cross-regional perspective", co-authored with Paul Chaisty and Tim Power, was awarded the CAS Award for the best article published in comparative area studies.{{Cite web|url=https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/cas-award|title=CAS Award {{!}} GIGA|website=www.giga-hamburg.de|access-date=2019-10-29}} How to Rig an Election was selected as one of the books of the year in 2018 by both the Spectator{{Cite web|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/11/books-of-the-year-part-one/|title=Books of the year – part one|date=2018-11-10|website=The Spectator|access-date=2019-10-29}} magazine and the Centre for Global Development.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cgdev.org/blog/what-were-reading-summer-2018|title=What We're Reading in Summer 2018|website=Center For Global Development|access-date=2019-10-29}}

In 2019, Cheeseman won the Joni Lovenduski Prize of the Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom for outstanding professional achievement by a mid-career scholar.{{Cite web|url=https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/psa-academic-prizes-2019|title=PSA Academic Prizes 2019 {{!}} The Political Studies Association (PSA)|website=PSA Academic Prizes 2019 {{!}} The Political Studies Association (PSA)|access-date=2019-10-29}} In 2019, the research team that he leads was awarded the ESRC Celebrating Impact Prize for Outstanding International Impact for its work on "Strengthening elections and accountability in new democracies".

In 2022, Cheeseman was nominated for the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order for How to Rig an Election, and was awarded the Josiah Mason Award for Academic Advancement, the University of Birmingham.{{Cite web |title=Professor Nic Cheeseman |url=https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/gov/cheeseman-nic.aspx |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=University of Birmingham |language=en-GB}}

Cheeseman has also been appointed to a number of different positions with international institutions, including being a member of the Advisory Board of the European Democracy Hub:{{Cite web |title=Nic Cheeseman |url=https://europeandemocracyhub.epd.eu/authors/nic-cheeseman/ |access-date=2023-08-24 |website=European Democracy Hub |language=en-US}}{{Cite book |last1=Cheeseman |first1=Nic |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/moral-economy-of-elections-in-africa/DDAE0D88636E296400383CFFFA2D13DF |title=The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa: Democracy, Voting and Virtue |last2=Lynch |first2=Gabrielle |last3=Willis |first3=Justin |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-41723-5 |location=Cambridge}} and a member of the International Advisory Council of the Afrobarometer.{{Cite web |last=Cheeseman |first=Nic |date=2017-10-10 |title=Professor Nic Cheeseman joins OXFAM! {{!}} Democracy in Africa |url=https://democracyinafrica.org/professor-nic-cheeseman-joins-oxfam/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}

• The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa, Cambridge University Press, 2020 (co-authored with Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis].
• The Handbook of Kenyan Politics, Oxford University Press, 2020 (co-edited with Karuti Kanyinga and Gabrielle Lynch).https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-handbook-of-kenyan-politics-9780192887429?cc=us&lang=en
• The Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics, Oxford University Press, 2018 (Editor in Chief)."[https://oxfordre.com/politics/page/african-politics/the-oxford-encyclopedia-of-african-politics The Oxford Encyclopaedia of African Politics]". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Authoritarian Africa, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019 (with Jonathan Fisher)."Authoritarian Africa". https://global.oup.com/ushe/product/authoritarian-africa-9780190279653. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• The Oxford Dictionary of African Politics, Oxford University Press, 2018 (with Eloïse Bertrand, and Sa'eed Husaini)."[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191828836.001.0001/acref-9780191828836 The Oxford Dictionary of African Politics]". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective, Oxford University Press, 2018 (with Paul Chaisty and Tim Power)."[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/coalitional-presidentialism-in-comparative-perspective-9780198817208 Coalitional Presidentialism in Comparative Perspective]". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Institutions and Democratization in Africa: How the rules of the game shape political developments, Cambridge University Press, 2018 (sole editor)."[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/institutions-and-democracy-in-africa/73ED89DF634FAFAA2D070F0ED4EE780F Institutions and Democratization in Africa]". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• The African Affairs Reader: Key texts in politics, development, and international relations, Oxford University Press, 2017 (co-edited collection with Carl Death and Lindsay Whitfield]."[https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-african-affairs-reader-9780198794295 The African Affairs Reader]". Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
•  African Politics: Major Works, Routledge, 2016 (sole editor)."[https://www.routledge.com/African-Politics-4-vol-set-1st-Edition/Cheeseman/p/book/9781138901650 African Politics: Major Works]". Routledge. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
•  How to Rig An Election, Yale University Press, 2018 (with Brian Klaas)."[https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300204438/how-rig-election. How to Rig An Election]". Yale University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Democracy in Africa: Successes, failures, and the struggle for political reform, Cambridge University Press, 2015."[https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/democracy-in-africa/3FFB8B40059192D449B77A402ADC82A1 Democracy in Africa]". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Politics Meets Policies: The Emergence of Programmatic Parties, International IDEA, 2014 (with Herbet Kitschelt, Dan Paget, Yi-Ting Wang, Juan Pablo Luna, Fernando Rosenblatt and Sergio Toro]."[https://www.idea.int/publications/catalogue/politics-meets-policies-emergence-programmatic-political-parties Politics Meets Policies]". International IDEA. Retrieved 2019-11-06
• The Handbook of African Politics, Routledge, 2013 (co-edited with David Anderson and Andrea Scheibler]."[https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415573788 The Handbook of African Politics]". Routledge. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
• Our Turn to Eat: Politics in Kenya Since 1950, LIT Verlag, 2010 (co-edited with Daniel Branch and Leigh Gardner]."[http://www.lit-verlag.de/isbn/3-8258-9805-2 Our Turn to Eat]". Lit Verlag. Retrieved 2019-11-06.

{{reflist}}

• {{official website}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeseman, Nic}}

Category:British political scientists

Category:Fellows of New College, Oxford

Category:Living people

Category:Academics of the University of Birmingham

Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford

Category:British Africanists

Category:British academic journal editors

Category:British columnists

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)