Projects per year
Personal profile
Personal Statement
Born and educated in the United States, I spent 25 years researching and teaching in South Africa before moving to Strathclyde in 2017. My research focuses on issues and challenges of sustaining democracy, by studying voting, public opinion, and elected legislatures, in the developing world in general, and Africa and South Africa in particular.
Research Interests
I work on issues of democratization primarily through the tools of survey research but also employ other methods of institutional analysis. I am co-founder of, and Senior Adviser to Afrobarometer, a regular survey of public opinion in 35 African countries (www.afrobarometer.org). I am also co-founder and co-Principal Investigator of the African Legislatures Project, a study of legislatures and legislators in 17 countries. Finally, I am the founder and Principal Investigator of the South African National Election Study, a longitudinal series of post-election surveys dating back to South AFrica's first democratic election of 1994 (www.cssr.uct.ac.za/daru/sanes). These studies are also carried out in association with the Comparative National Elections Project, and Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project.
Expertise & Capabilities
Survey Research
Comparative Politics
African Politics
South African Politics
United States Politics
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Education/Academic qualification
Doctor of Philosophy, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Award Date: 15 Feb 1992
Master of Arts, University of Delaware
Award Date: 14 Jun 1986
Bachelor of Arts, Youngstown State University
Award Date: 16 Jun 1984
External positions
Adjunct Professor, Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, University of Cape Town
1 Jun 2023 → …
Honorary Professor, University of Cape Town
1 Jan 2017 → 31 Dec 2021
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
-
Sustainable Development and Citizenship in Africa (SGSSS award)
Mattes, R. (Principal Investigator)
1/09/22 → 28/02/26
Project: Research - Studentship
-
Political Parties in Africa
Mattes, R. (Principal Investigator), Seekings, J. (Principal Investigator) & Lockwood, S. J. (Principal Investigator)
1/12/18 → …
Project: Research
-
African legislators: unrepresentative power elites?
Mattes, R., Krönke, M. & Mozaffar, S., 31 Mar 2025, In: Journal of Southern African Studies. 50, 4, p. 619-641 23 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile -
WP208: Whom do African election campaigns contact? And does it matter?
Mattes, R., Krönke, M. & Lockwood, S. J., 26 Feb 2025, East Lansing, Michigan, 26 p. (Afrobarometer Working Papers; no. 208).Research output: Working paper
Open Access
Datasets
-
Afrobarometer Survey 2021-2023, Merged 39 Countries, Round 9
Mattes, R. (Creator), Asunka, J. (Creator), Gyimah-Boadi, E. (Creator), Logan, C. (Creator), Dulani, B. (Creator), Chingwete, A. (Creator), Lewis, P. (Creator) & Appiah-Nyamekwe, J. (Creator), DataFirst, University of Cape Town, 10 Mar 2025
DOI: 10.25828/bs9k-zy70, https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog/989
Dataset
-
Data for: "Party footprints in Africa: Measuring local party presence across the continent"
Krönke, M. (Creator), Lockwood, S. J. (Creator) & Mattes, R. (Creator), figshare, 6 Apr 2023
DOI: 10.25384/sage.c.5428696.v1
Dataset
Prizes
-
-
Liphart/Przeworski/Verba Data Set Award
Mattes, R. (Recipient), Bratton, M. (Recipient) & Gyimah-Boadi, E. (Recipient), 2004
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
-
Do MPs Reflect the People Who Voted for Them? We Studied 17 Countries to Find Out.
Mattes, R. (Recipient), Krönke, M. (Recipient) & Mozaffar, S. (Recipient)
6 Apr 2025Activity: Public Engagement and Outreach › Media Participation
-
African Affairs (Journal)
Mattes, R. (Peer reviewer)
2 Mar 2025Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Journal peer review