Expensive elections campaigns are a threat to democracies around the world, because they generate corruption and political inequality. Yet, due to methodological obstacles and a western bias in the current literature, we do not really know what makes election campaigns expensive. To do so this project adopts a new methodology that combines up-close candidate shadowing with candidate surveys. Ethnographic studies on election campaigns across India and Indonesia – two large democracies in the global south representing different electoral systems – will identify drivers of campaign expenditures, while candidate surveys will serve to engage in quantitative analysis of within-country variation. With this hitherto unavailable data this project aims to help reduce the role of money in elections to healthier levels.

We are looking for a Postdoctoral researcher for this innovative and challenging project. You will lead the implementation of the Indian part of this project, together with principal investigator Ward Berenschot (senior researcher KITLV and professor in comparative political anthropology, University of Amsterdam). You will train and supervise research teams in India, supervise the execution of a candidate survey as well as engage in extensive fieldwork during the time of elections (i.e. Dec-Feb 2024). You will also take the lead in writing publications and organizing the dissemination of research findings. You will be based at KITLV, while this position also involves spending extensive periods of time in India in the months leading up to the elections. Depending on your situation, this could mean staying in India during the first six to eight months.

Deadline submissions: 25 June 2023.

This project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).