"Serving the people: How do parliamentarians represent their constituents in politically unstable African countries?" with Ana Lúcia Sá
Date: February 20th, 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Location: Knox Hall, Room 208
Description: Since the coup d’état in Mali in 2020, West and Central Africa have been in the headlines due to what has been labelled a “new wave of coups in Africa.” In countries that have experienced coups and coup attempts, elected institutions such as parliaments are reshaped. While most research on political representation and instability focuses on institutional vulnerability or conflict prevention, little is known about how politicians fulfil their representative roles amid high instability.
This talk explores the complexities of constituency service in politically unstable countries, focusing on West Africa and Guinea-Bissau in particular—a country with a long history of political instability, including civil war, repeated coup attempts, and military takeovers. Drawing on fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau, including interviews with politicians and archival research, the talk examines how members of parliament perceive and fulfill their roles as servants of the people under conditions of political instability.
Speaker: Ana Lúcia Sá is Assistant Professor in African Studies at Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon. She serves as Deputy Dean of the School of Sociology and Public Policy and Deputy Director of the Department of Political Science and Public Policy, and is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Centre for International Studies. She sits on the board of the African Studies Section of the Portuguese Political Science Association and is a board member of AEGIS, the European Network of African Studies. Her research focuses on authoritarian systems in Africa.