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 primarlily 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 (www.cssr.uct.ac.za/alp). 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
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Sustainable Development and Citizenship in Africa (SGSSS award)
1/09/22 → 28/02/26
Project: Research - Studentship
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Political parties and democracy in South Africa
Mattes, R., Krönke, M. & Lockwood, S. J., 24 Nov 2023, (Accepted/In press) Political Parties and the Crisis of Democracy. Poguntke, T. & Hofmeister, W. (eds.). OxfordResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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It takes two to toyi-toyi: one party dominance and opposition party failure in South Africa's 2019 national election
Mattes, R. & Schulz-Herzenberg, C., 11 Jul 2023, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Democratization. p. 1-22 22 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Datasets
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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
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Data for "In Whose Interest? Gender and Mass–Elite Priority Congruence in Sub-Saharan Africa"
Clayton, A. (Creator), Josefsson, C. (Creator), Mattes, R. (Creator) & Mozaffar, S. (Creator), figshare, 7 Jun 2023
DOI: 10.25384/sage.c.4341083.v1
Dataset
Prizes
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Academy of Science of South Africa
Mattes, Robert (Recipient), 2014
Prize: Election to learned society
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Liphart/Przeworski/Verba Data Set Award
Mattes, Robert (Recipient), Bratton, Michael (Recipient) & Gyimah-Boadi, E. (Recipient), 2004
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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Comparative Political Studies (Journal)
Robert Mattes (Peer reviewer)
30 Aug 2023Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Journal peer review
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British Journal of Politics and International Relations (Journal)
Robert Mattes (Peer reviewer)
12 Jul 2023Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Journal peer review