Sebastian Elischer is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science. His research examines the effects of institutions and identities on state-building and democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa. He has published on these topics in Comparative Politics, Democratization, African Affairs, Review of African Political Economy and similar disciplinary and interdisciplinary journals.
His first book, Political Parties and Ethnicity, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013. It examines the salience of ethnicity at the aggregate level of parties across the African continent. His second book, Salafism and Political Order in Africa, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. It traces the emergence of homegrown jihadi Salafi violence to a set of specific state building strategies in the religious sphere. Elischer is currently one of the co-editors of African Studies Review. He has served as a consultant and analysts for the Department of Defense and several European government agencies.
Education
PhD Jacobs University Bremen, MIS George Washington University
M.A. Free University Berlin
B.A. University of Wales/ Aberystwyth
Research Interests
Democratization, institutional reform, political Islam, ethnicity
Countries / Regions of Expertise
Sub-Saharan Africa
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 117325
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-7325