Kathleen Klaus
Biographic Data
| ID | 110268 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kathleen Klaus |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kathleen |
| FAMILY NAME | Klaus |
| SIGNATURE | KLAUS K |
| AFFILIATIONS | Uppsala University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7085-4835 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 92 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Voter Backlash and Elite Misperception: The Logic of Violence in Electoral Competition by Steven C. Rosenzweig
Land and Politics
Human societies and their politics are deeply rooted in the land. Land shapes politics through its material nature and distribution across society, by serving as a mechanism of control and state-building, and by acting as a symbolic site that imbues identity and belonging. That land is inextricably intertwined with politics makes it a crucial driver of a wide range of social, political, and economic outcomes. We explain and survey these rich and …
Democracy dismissed: When leaders and citizens choose election violence
In democratic settings, election violence is often jointly produced: it relies not only on elite incentives and capacities to deploy violence, but also on the willingness of ordinary actors to participate. Yet many studies of election violence overlook this elite-citizen interaction, effectively black-boxing the process through which elites mobilize people to fight. This article introduces and advances the concept of the joint production of elect…
Closing The Gap: The Politics of Property Rights in Kenya
Politicians and scholars alike have advocated for land reform as a tool to address political instability and poverty. Yet in many cases of land reform, governments provide land but withhold property rights. Why do leaders withhold these rights, and when do they grant previously withheld rights? The authors argue that land rights are a distributive good that leaders relinquish conservatively and selectively to build popular support. Using microlev…
Demanding Recognition: A New Framework for the Study of Political Clientelism
Despite increasingly programmatic politics and competitive elections, political clientelism remains an enduring feature of African politics. More so, while politicians rarely deliver on political promises, citizens continue to demand and participate in patron–client relations. While moral economy and instrumentalist accounts offer insight into the puzzling persistence of political clientelism, we offer an additional framework based on demands for…
Political Violence in Kenya: Land, Elections, and Claim-Making
Examining a key puzzle in the study of electoral violence, this study asks how elites organize violence and why ordinary citizens participate. While existing theories of electoral violence emphasize weak institutions, ethnic cleavages, and the strategic use of violence, few specify how the political incentives of elites interact with the interests of ordinary citizens. Providing a new theory of electoral violence, Kathleen F. Klaus analyzes viole…
Can Politicians Exploit Ethnic Grievances? An Experimental Study of Land Appeals in Kenya
Raising the stakes: Land titling and electoral stability in Kenya
How does large-scale land reform affect electoral stability and the prospects for election violence? While scholars have theorized elite-level logics of land distribution, few studies analyze the effects of land reform on the attitudes of ordinary citizens, and the implications such reforms have for electoral violence. The article uses an original survey and qualitative interviews in coastal Kenya to examine the effects of the Kenyan government's…
Defending the city, defending votes: Campaign strategies in urban Ghana
Rapid urbanisation in African democracies is changing the way that political parties engage with their constituents, shifting relations between hosts and migrants. This article examines the strategies that parties use to maintain and build electoral support in increasingly diverse contexts. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, we find that some urban political parties rely on inclusive forms of mobilisation, p…
Contentious Land Narratives and the Nonescalation of Election Violence: Evidence from Kenya's Coast Region
This article examines the puzzle of the nonescalation of electoral violence. Drawing on evidence from Kenya's Coast and Rift Valley regions, the article argues that land narratives along the coast create few motives for people to participate in electoral violence because residents do not link their land rights with electoral outcomes. Politicians thus have far less power to use land narratives to organize violence. Two factors help account for th…
Land grievances and the mobilization of electoral violence: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya
Recent studies have asked why elites resort to violence, yet many overlook the process and dynamics of mobilizing violence. How do politicians convince their supporters to fight ? This article argues that in multi-ethnic and democratizing societies where land and property rights are weak and politicized, land grievances can provide leaders with a powerful tool to organize electoral violence. We develop a theory to show how land grievances can giv…
Coming in the Next Issue
A preview of some of the articles in the April 2012 issue
Land grievances and the mobilization of electoral violence: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya
Recent studies have asked why elites resort to violence, yet many overlook the process and dynamics of mobilizing violence. How do politicians convince their supporters to fight ? This article argues that in multi-ethnic and democratizing societies where land and property rights are weak and politicized, land grievances can provide leaders with a powerful tool to organize electoral violence. We develop a theory to show how land grievances can giv…
Can Politicians Exploit Ethnic Grievances? An Experimental Study of Land Appeals in Kenya
Demanding Recognition: A New Framework for the Study of Political Clientelism
Despite increasingly programmatic politics and competitive elections, political clientelism remains an enduring feature of African politics. More so, while politicians rarely deliver on political promises, citizens continue to demand and participate in patron–client relations. While moral economy and instrumentalist accounts offer insight into the puzzling persistence of political clientelism, we offer an additional framework based on demands for…
Defending the city, defending votes: Campaign strategies in urban Ghana
Rapid urbanisation in African democracies is changing the way that political parties engage with their constituents, shifting relations between hosts and migrants. This article examines the strategies that parties use to maintain and build electoral support in increasingly diverse contexts. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, we find that some urban political parties rely on inclusive forms of mobilisation, p…
Raising the stakes: Land titling and electoral stability in Kenya
How does large-scale land reform affect electoral stability and the prospects for election violence? While scholars have theorized elite-level logics of land distribution, few studies analyze the effects of land reform on the attitudes of ordinary citizens, and the implications such reforms have for electoral violence. The article uses an original survey and qualitative interviews in coastal Kenya to examine the effects of the Kenyan government's…
Democracy dismissed: When leaders and citizens choose election violence
In democratic settings, election violence is often jointly produced: it relies not only on elite incentives and capacities to deploy violence, but also on the willingness of ordinary actors to participate. Yet many studies of election violence overlook this elite-citizen interaction, effectively black-boxing the process through which elites mobilize people to fight. This article introduces and advances the concept of the joint production of elect…
Closing The Gap: The Politics of Property Rights in Kenya
Politicians and scholars alike have advocated for land reform as a tool to address political instability and poverty. Yet in many cases of land reform, governments provide land but withhold property rights. Why do leaders withhold these rights, and when do they grant previously withheld rights? The authors argue that land rights are a distributive good that leaders relinquish conservatively and selectively to build popular support. Using microlev…
Contentious Land Narratives and the Nonescalation of Election Violence: Evidence from Kenya's Coast Region
This article examines the puzzle of the nonescalation of electoral violence. Drawing on evidence from Kenya's Coast and Rift Valley regions, the article argues that land narratives along the coast create few motives for people to participate in electoral violence because residents do not link their land rights with electoral outcomes. Politicians thus have far less power to use land narratives to organize violence. Two factors help account for th…
Land and Politics
Human societies and their politics are deeply rooted in the land. Land shapes politics through its material nature and distribution across society, by serving as a mechanism of control and state-building, and by acting as a symbolic site that imbues identity and belonging. That land is inextricably intertwined with politics makes it a crucial driver of a wide range of social, political, and economic outcomes. We explain and survey these rich and …
Coming in the Next Issue
A preview of some of the articles in the April 2012 issue
Land grievances and the mobilization of electoral violence: Evidence from Côte d’Ivoire and Kenya
Recent studies have asked why elites resort to violence, yet many overlook the process and dynamics of mobilizing violence. How do politicians convince their supporters to fight ? This article argues that in multi-ethnic and democratizing societies where land and property rights are weak and politicized, land grievances can provide leaders with a powerful tool to organize electoral violence. We develop a theory to show how land grievances can giv…
Defending the city, defending votes: Campaign strategies in urban Ghana
Rapid urbanisation in African democracies is changing the way that political parties engage with their constituents, shifting relations between hosts and migrants. This article examines the strategies that parties use to maintain and build electoral support in increasingly diverse contexts. Drawing on in-depth interviews and ethnographic research in Accra, Ghana, we find that some urban political parties rely on inclusive forms of mobilisation, p…
Contentious Land Narratives and the Nonescalation of Election Violence: Evidence from Kenya's Coast Region
This article examines the puzzle of the nonescalation of electoral violence. Drawing on evidence from Kenya's Coast and Rift Valley regions, the article argues that land narratives along the coast create few motives for people to participate in electoral violence because residents do not link their land rights with electoral outcomes. Politicians thus have far less power to use land narratives to organize violence. Two factors help account for th…
Political Violence in Kenya: Land, Elections, and Claim-Making
Examining a key puzzle in the study of electoral violence, this study asks how elites organize violence and why ordinary citizens participate. While existing theories of electoral violence emphasize weak institutions, ethnic cleavages, and the strategic use of violence, few specify how the political incentives of elites interact with the interests of ordinary citizens. Providing a new theory of electoral violence, Kathleen F. Klaus analyzes viole…
Can Politicians Exploit Ethnic Grievances? An Experimental Study of Land Appeals in Kenya
Raising the stakes: Land titling and electoral stability in Kenya
How does large-scale land reform affect electoral stability and the prospects for election violence? While scholars have theorized elite-level logics of land distribution, few studies analyze the effects of land reform on the attitudes of ordinary citizens, and the implications such reforms have for electoral violence. The article uses an original survey and qualitative interviews in coastal Kenya to examine the effects of the Kenyan government's…
Closing The Gap: The Politics of Property Rights in Kenya
Politicians and scholars alike have advocated for land reform as a tool to address political instability and poverty. Yet in many cases of land reform, governments provide land but withhold property rights. Why do leaders withhold these rights, and when do they grant previously withheld rights? The authors argue that land rights are a distributive good that leaders relinquish conservatively and selectively to build popular support. Using microlev…
Demanding Recognition: A New Framework for the Study of Political Clientelism
Despite increasingly programmatic politics and competitive elections, political clientelism remains an enduring feature of African politics. More so, while politicians rarely deliver on political promises, citizens continue to demand and participate in patron–client relations. While moral economy and instrumentalist accounts offer insight into the puzzling persistence of political clientelism, we offer an additional framework based on demands for…
Voter Backlash and Elite Misperception: The Logic of Violence in Electoral Competition by Steven C. Rosenzweig
Land and Politics
Human societies and their politics are deeply rooted in the land. Land shapes politics through its material nature and distribution across society, by serving as a mechanism of control and state-building, and by acting as a symbolic site that imbues identity and belonging. That land is inextricably intertwined with politics makes it a crucial driver of a wide range of social, political, and economic outcomes. We explain and survey these rich and …
Democracy dismissed: When leaders and citizens choose election violence
In democratic settings, election violence is often jointly produced: it relies not only on elite incentives and capacities to deploy violence, but also on the willingness of ordinary actors to participate. Yet many studies of election violence overlook this elite-citizen interaction, effectively black-boxing the process through which elites mobilize people to fight. This article introduces and advances the concept of the joint production of elect…
Political economy (11 works) · Political science (11 works) · Politics (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Political Conflict and Governance (7 works) · Geography (6 works) · Law (6 works) · Land Rights and Reforms (5 works) · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development (4 works)