My research focuses on the decisions people make in politics and how both individual and contextual level factors influence people's decision making and behaviour. The topics I study include political participation, vote choice, trust, prosocial behaviour, the connections between culture and institutions, land rights and their effects on economic behaviour as well as questions about representation. I've worked in Mongolia, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Uganda and elsewhere and have collaborated with various government agencies and non governmental organizations around the world such as the UK Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, Elections Canada, Elections British Columbia and others. Methodologically my work is diverse but driven by a concern about causal inference. My research combines tools such as field experiments, lab-in-the-field methods, surveys and formal theory. More and more I think many of the most interesting social science questions can be explained by football (⚽) — I'm kind of kidding...but kind of not. I teach courses in comparative politics, elections and research methods. I am a member of EGAP and I received my PhD from the LSE. Because my daughters think I should include "fun and interesting facts" about myself, here are two truths and a lie: I have never owned a car. I have never voted. I have never had a glass of milk. 

 

Drop me a line: rubenson@torontomu.ca.