Jennifer Bussell
Biographic Data
| ID | 4379181 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jennifer Bussell |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jennifer |
| FAMILY NAME | Bussell |
| SIGNATURE | BUSSELL J |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7115-1821 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 11 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 67 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 11 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Shocks and Politics
When will government elites prepare for natural hazards? Existing research posits that governments will respond to disasters, but rarely have incentives to prepare for them. This Element argues that disaster preparedness can, and does, occur in the context of both motivated ruling elites and a capable state. Ruling elites can be mobilized to lead preparedness efforts when there is a risk that past exposure to hazards will lead to political instab…
Rethinking the Study of Electoral Politics in the Developing World
In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often considered to be an exemplar of the centrality of contingency in distributive politics, the role of ethnicity in shaping political behavior, and the organizational weakness of political parties. Whereas these axioms have some empirical basis, the massive changes in political practices, the vast variation in political patterns, and the burgeoning lite…
Shadowing as a Tool for Studying Political Elites
This article offers a description and discussion of “shadowing” as a data collection and analytic tool, highlighting potential research opportunities related to the direct observation of individuals—principally political elites—in their normal daily routine for an extended period of time, often between one day and one week. In contrast with large-scale data collection methods, including surveys, shadowing enables researchers to develop detailed o…
Clients and Constituents
When do middlemen matter? Evidence from variation in corruption in India
Corruption is a persistent problem in developing countries, and recent scholarship suggests that middlemen play an important role in corrupt acts. Yet, while intermediaries can reduce transaction costs in illicit exchange, they also increase agency costs and reduce benefits to others. The involvement of middlemen may thus vary. I argue that middlemen are most likely to engage in, and benefit from, the subset of corruption transactions that are re…
Corruption and Reform in India
Why do some governments improve public services more effectively than others? Through the investigation of a new era of administrative reform, in which digital technologies may be used to facilitate citizens' access to the state, Jennifer Bussell's analysis provides unanticipated insights into this fundamental question. In contrast to factors such as economic development or electoral competition, this study highlights the importance of access to …
Explaining Cross-National Variation in Government Adoption of New Technologies1
New information and communication technologies provide governments with opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. But we know little about the reasons for variation in the adoption of these technologies across countries. Using cross-national data on government use of information technologies to reform public service delivery, or eGovernment, I argue that politicians' expectations about the effects of more transp…
Between State and Citizen
Why Get Technical? Corruption and the Politics of Public Service Reform in the Indian States
The emergence of new information and communication technologies in the 1990s offered governments opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. Yet national and subnational authorities have employed such technologies in highly uneven ways. Drawing on a new data set of technology policy adoption by Indian states, the author argues that political calculations drive variation in the timing and scope of technology polici…
Will the Digital Revolution Revolutionize Development? Drawing Together the Debate
Will Information Technology Reshape the North-South Asymmetry of Power in the Global Political Economy
Why Get Technical? Corruption and the Politics of Public Service Reform in the Indian States
The emergence of new information and communication technologies in the 1990s offered governments opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. Yet national and subnational authorities have employed such technologies in highly uneven ways. Drawing on a new data set of technology policy adoption by Indian states, the author argues that political calculations drive variation in the timing and scope of technology polici…
When do middlemen matter? Evidence from variation in corruption in India
Corruption is a persistent problem in developing countries, and recent scholarship suggests that middlemen play an important role in corrupt acts. Yet, while intermediaries can reduce transaction costs in illicit exchange, they also increase agency costs and reduce benefits to others. The involvement of middlemen may thus vary. I argue that middlemen are most likely to engage in, and benefit from, the subset of corruption transactions that are re…
Explaining Cross-National Variation in Government Adoption of New Technologies1
New information and communication technologies provide governments with opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. But we know little about the reasons for variation in the adoption of these technologies across countries. Using cross-national data on government use of information technologies to reform public service delivery, or eGovernment, I argue that politicians' expectations about the effects of more transp…
Rethinking the Study of Electoral Politics in the Developing World
In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often considered to be an exemplar of the centrality of contingency in distributive politics, the role of ethnicity in shaping political behavior, and the organizational weakness of political parties. Whereas these axioms have some empirical basis, the massive changes in political practices, the vast variation in political patterns, and the burgeoning lite…
Shadowing as a Tool for Studying Political Elites
This article offers a description and discussion of “shadowing” as a data collection and analytic tool, highlighting potential research opportunities related to the direct observation of individuals—principally political elites—in their normal daily routine for an extended period of time, often between one day and one week. In contrast with large-scale data collection methods, including surveys, shadowing enables researchers to develop detailed o…
Will Information Technology Reshape the North-South Asymmetry of Power in the Global Political Economy
Will the Digital Revolution Revolutionize Development? Drawing Together the Debate
Will the Digital Revolution Revolutionize Development? Drawing Together the Debate
Will Information Technology Reshape the North-South Asymmetry of Power in the Global Political Economy
Between State and Citizen
Why Get Technical? Corruption and the Politics of Public Service Reform in the Indian States
The emergence of new information and communication technologies in the 1990s offered governments opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. Yet national and subnational authorities have employed such technologies in highly uneven ways. Drawing on a new data set of technology policy adoption by Indian states, the author argues that political calculations drive variation in the timing and scope of technology polici…
Explaining Cross-National Variation in Government Adoption of New Technologies1
New information and communication technologies provide governments with opportunities to deliver public services more effectively to their citizens. But we know little about the reasons for variation in the adoption of these technologies across countries. Using cross-national data on government use of information technologies to reform public service delivery, or eGovernment, I argue that politicians' expectations about the effects of more transp…
Corruption and Reform in India
Why do some governments improve public services more effectively than others? Through the investigation of a new era of administrative reform, in which digital technologies may be used to facilitate citizens' access to the state, Jennifer Bussell's analysis provides unanticipated insights into this fundamental question. In contrast to factors such as economic development or electoral competition, this study highlights the importance of access to …
When do middlemen matter? Evidence from variation in corruption in India
Corruption is a persistent problem in developing countries, and recent scholarship suggests that middlemen play an important role in corrupt acts. Yet, while intermediaries can reduce transaction costs in illicit exchange, they also increase agency costs and reduce benefits to others. The involvement of middlemen may thus vary. I argue that middlemen are most likely to engage in, and benefit from, the subset of corruption transactions that are re…
Clients and Constituents
Shadowing as a Tool for Studying Political Elites
This article offers a description and discussion of “shadowing” as a data collection and analytic tool, highlighting potential research opportunities related to the direct observation of individuals—principally political elites—in their normal daily routine for an extended period of time, often between one day and one week. In contrast with large-scale data collection methods, including surveys, shadowing enables researchers to develop detailed o…
Rethinking the Study of Electoral Politics in the Developing World
In the study of electoral politics and political behavior in the developing world, India is often considered to be an exemplar of the centrality of contingency in distributive politics, the role of ethnicity in shaping political behavior, and the organizational weakness of political parties. Whereas these axioms have some empirical basis, the massive changes in political practices, the vast variation in political patterns, and the burgeoning lite…
Shocks and Politics
When will government elites prepare for natural hazards? Existing research posits that governments will respond to disasters, but rarely have incentives to prepare for them. This Element argues that disaster preparedness can, and does, occur in the context of both motivated ruling elites and a capable state. Ruling elites can be mobilized to lead preparedness efforts when there is a risk that past exposure to hazards will lead to political instab…
Political science (10 works) · Politics (8 works) · Economics (7 works) · Law (7 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Business (4 works) · Corruption and Economic Development (4 works) · Language change (4 works) · Political economy (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works)