2014 APSA Africa Workshop CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

“Distributive Goods and Distributive Politics”
June 30 to July 11, 2014
Maputo, Mozambique

The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Higher Institute of Public Administration (ISAP) are pleased to announce a call for applications from individuals who would like to participate in a workshop on “Distributive goods and distributive politics” in Maputo, Mozambique. The two-week workshop will be held from June 30th to July 11th 2014 at the Higher Institute of Public Administration in Maputo, Mozambique. The organizers, with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will cover all the costs of participation (including travel, lodging, meals, and materials) for up to 26 qualified applicants. This year's workshop will be conducted in English.

The workshop leaders are Anne Pitcher (University of Michigan, USA), Rod Alence (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa), Brian Min (University of Michigan, USA), Carlos Shenga (Higher Institute of Public Administration, Mozambique) and Sylvia Croese (Stellenbosch University, South Africa).

Workshop Theme
This two-week workshop will focus on the theme of distributive politics — the study of how governments allocate goods and services and how these allocations affect political outcomes. Some questions we will examine are: Why do governments offer such goods? What kinds of goods do they deliver? Do distributive strategies seek to reward supporters or win over opponents? How do such strategies vary with regime type and electoral institutions?

To understand patterns and outcomes of distributive politics, the course will combine discussion of classic and contemporary theoretical and methodological research on goods provision with hands-on statistical training in the use of R, a publicly available statistical package. Fellows will work with a range of datasets and strengthen their ability to analyze the distribution of public and private goods and their political impacts. In addition to the substantive elements of the course, students will have opportunities to share their work and to receive helpful comments on their research projects.

Follow this web link to the online Application Form. The application deadline is March 14, 2014. Follow this link to download a digital copy of this Call For Applications.pdf. 

Workshop Fellows
The workshop is targeted at university and college faculty in the social sciences residing in Africa who are in the early stages of their academic careers. APSA welcomes applications from scholars who have completed their Ph.D. as well as those who are working towards completion. Up to four advanced U.S. Ph.D. students will also be accepted. All Workshop Fellows must be actively engaged in a research project in political science or an area of inquiry related to politics. Fellows should be working on a manuscript, paper, book chapter, or article during the workshop that can be developed into an eventual publication. Preference will be given to scholars working on projects related to the theme of the workshop on distributive politics, but this is not required. All instruction will be in English and all participants should command a high level of proficiency in English. In addition, opportunities to converse informally in Portuguese will be available and Portuguese-speaking scholars are encouraged to apply.

Applications
To submit an application for participation in the workshop, first review the eligibility requirements on APSA’s Africa Workshop website and then follow this web link to the online 2014 Application Form: https://apsa.wufoo.com/forms/2014-apsa-africa-workshop-application-form/. If preferred, a copy of the Application Form in Microsoft Word can be e-mailed to you upon request. Complete applications, including all necessary supporting documents, should be sent to APSA electronically by March 14, 2014; please email all materials directly to africaworkshops@apsanet.org. The final list of selected Workshop Fellows will be announced in early April.

Applications must be submitted in English, and must include:

The completed Application Form (online at www.apsanet.org/africaworkshops).
A detailed, recent Curriculum Vitae/resume.
A 500-word statement that describes your current research plans or ideas and how it relates to the workshop theme.
The draft working paper or manuscript in progress that you propose to take with you to the workshop. This can be a work-in-progress drawn from your current research, or part of a paper, article, or chapter under development. At a minimum, this should be a 2,500-word document that includes: 1) a 150-word abstract; 2) a description of research design; 3) a one-page bibliography of literature most relevant to your paper.
Two letters of reference on official letterhead and scanned as electronic files. If you are a graduate student, one letter should be a letter of introduction from your supervising professor. If you are a researcher or faculty member, the letters can be from a former dissertation supervisor, a colleague or collaborator at your home institution or elsewhere, a university official, or an employer.
For questions, contact Andrew Stinson at africaworkshops@apsanet.org. Please do not contact the workshop leaders directly.