Leila Demarest
Associate Professor
- Name
- Dr. L. Demarest
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- l.demarest@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-6887-9937
Leila Demarest is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science.
Leila Demarest is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Institute of Political Science, specialized in the study of Sub-Saharan African politics.
Her research interests include democratization, peace and conflict dynamics, and intergroup relations. Her current research projects focus on:
- Democratization, diversity, and parliamentary politics in Africa
- Political attitudes and participation of young people in the Global South.
Her teaching activities focus on African politics and research methods.
Dr. Demarest joined Leiden University in 2018. Previously, she worked at the Centre for Research on Peace and Development (CRPD) at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium. She also obtained her PhD in Social Sciences (2017) from the KU Leuven as a doctoral fellow of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).
Leila Demarest is available to supervise PhD students and invites PhD research proposals in the areas of:
- Conflict and mobilization processes in the Global South
- Parties and parliamentary politics in the Global South
- Democratic attitudes and political behavior in the Global South
See for more information on PhD positions:
Associate Professor
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Instituut Politieke Wetenschap
- Demarest L. (2024) Good governance in Nigeria: rethinking accountability and transparency in the twenty-first century by Portia Roelofs. Review of: (2023), Good governance in Nigeria: rethinking accountability and transparency in the twenty-first century. Canbridge: Cambridge University Press. Democratization 31(1): 258-259.
- Demarest L. & Veenendaal W. (2024), Closer to the people? Determinants of citizen–MP contact in Africa, Legislative Studies Quarterly : 1-17.
- Demarest L. (2023), Review of: Agbiboa D.E. (2022), They eat our sweat : transport labor, corruption, and everyday survival in urban Nigeria. Critical Frontiers of Theory, Research, and Policy in International Development Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Journal of Cultural Economy 16(2): 297-300.
- Demarest L. (2023), From budget padding to budget scrutiny?: National Assembly-executive relations in the budget process, Nigerian Journal of Legislative Affairs 10(1): .
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2023), Managing diversity in Nigeria’s fourth republic national assembly: integrated parties versus ethno-regional balancing, Publius: The Journal of Federalism : .
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2022), How events enter (or not) data sets: the pitfalls and guidelines of using newspapers in the study of conflict, Sociological Methods and Research : .
- Demarest L. (2021), Men of the people? Democracy and prebendalism in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic National Assembly, Democratization 28(4): 684-702.
- Demarest L. (26 January 2021), Over bananenrepublieken spreken, is soms appels met peren vergelijken. Stuk Rood Vlees. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. (2021) Party proliferation and political contestation in Africa: Senegal in comparative perspective (by Catherine Lena Kelly). Review of: Catherine Lena Kelly (2020), Party proliferation and political contestation in Africa: Senegal in comparative perspective .
- Demarest L. (18 May 2021), Veel kleine partijen: een gevaar voor de democratie? Misschien niet in Nederland, maar elders…. Stuk Rood Vlees. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. (22 June 2021), Kunnen we parlementariërs in nieuwe democratieën maar beter veel betalen?. Stuk Rood Vlees. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. (2021), Elite clientelism in Nigeria: the role of parties in weakening legislator-voter ties, Party Politics : .
- Demarest L. (27 August 2021), Are Nigerian lawmakers incentivised to direct public resources to their voters?. Africa at LSE. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. (2021), Review of: Fourchard L. (2021), Classify, exclude, police: urban lives in South Africa and Nigeria. IJURR Studies in Urban and Social Change Book Series. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. Africa Spectrum : 1-3.
- Demarest L. & Haer R. (2021), A perfect match? : The dampening effect of interethnic marriage on armed conflict in Africa , Conflict Management and Peace Science : 1-20.
- Demarest L. (2 November 2021), Verkiezingsgeweld: meer dan slechte verliezers. StukRoodVlees. [blog entry].
- Demarest L & Haer R. van der (9 December 2021), What interethnic marriage rates tell us about ethnic conflict and cooperation in Africa. Africa at LSE. London: LSE. [blog entry].
- Veenendaal W.P. & Demarest L. (21 December 2021), Ondemocratisch Afrika?: Kleine eilandstaten vormen de uitzondering. Stuk Rood Vlees. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2021), Peace journalism on a shoestring? Conflict reporting in Nigeria’s national news media, Journalism : .
- Demarest L., Langer A. & Ukiwo U. (2020), Nigeria’s Federal Character Commission (FCC): A Critical Appraisal, Oxford Development Studies 48(3): .
- Demarest L., Godefroidt A. & Langer A. (2020), Understanding News Coverage of Religious-based Violence: Empirical and Theoretical Insights from Media Representations of Boko Haram in Nigeria, Journal of Communication 70(4): 548–573.
- Haer R. van der Demarest L. (2020), COVID-19 in Africa: Turning a Health Crisis into a Human Security Threat?, Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy : .
- Veenendaal W.P. & Demarest L. (2020), How population size affects power-sharing: a comparison of Nigeria and Suriname, Contemporary Politics : 1-21.
- Demarest L. (5 March 2019), Why Buhari won even though he had little to show for first term. The Conversation. www.theconversation.com. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2019), Reporting on electoral violence in Nigerian news media: “Saying it as it is”?, African Studies Review 62(4): 83-109.
- Demarest L. & Smith R. (2019), Managing expectations? The opportunities and limitations of e-learning applications in Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Training, Journal of Peacebuilding & Development 14(3): 242-255.
- Demarest L. (31 May 2019), Decolonizing the Museum: How should Belgium's Africa Museum address its colonial past?. Africa is a Country. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (3 June 2019), We found that Nigerian papers’ coverage of pre-election violence passed muster. The Conversation. [blog entry].
- Demarest L., Langer A. & Meuleman B. (2019), Between fallacy and feasibility? Dealing with the risk of ecological fallacies in the quantitative study of protest mobilization and conflict, Ask: Research and Methods 28(1): 21-42.
- Demarest L. (2018) Book review Laura Thaut Vinson. Religion, Violence, and Local Power-Sharing in Nigeria. Review of: Thaut Vinson Laura (2017), Religion, Violence, and Local Power-Sharing in Nigeria: Cambridge University Press. African Studies Review 61(3): 245-246.
- Demarest L. (2018) Review: Perspectives on Political Communication in Africa. Review of: Mutsvairo B. & Karam B.. Journal of Communication 68(4): E50--E51.
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2018), The study of violence and social unrest in Africa: A comparative analysis of three conflict event datasets, African Affairs 117(467): 310-325.
- Demarest L. & Langer A. (2018), Understanding Violent Conflict in Africa: Trends, Causes, and Prospects. In: Peterson C.P., Knoblauch W. & Loadenthal M. (Eds.), The Routledge History of World Peace since 1750.
- Langer A. & Demarest L. (2018), Violent Group Mobilization and Conflicts in Africa: Understanding When and How Horizontal Inequalities Lead to Violence. In: Crocker C. & Aall P. (Eds.), The Fabric of Peace in Africa: Looking Beyond the State. Waterloo, Canada: Centre for International Governance Innovation. 33-48.
- Demarest L., Biafran unrest and the shrinking national cake: what prospects for Nigeria?. Democracy in Africa. www.democracyinafrica.org. [blog entry].
- Demarest L. (2017) Book review. The Quality of Democracy in Africa: Opposition Competitiveness Rooted in Legacies of Cleavages. Review of: Van Eerd J.. Democratization 25(5): 952-954.
- Langer A., Stewart F., Smedts K. & Demarest L. (2016), Conceptualising and Measuring Social Cohesion in Africa: Towards a Perceptions-Based Index, Social Indicators Research 131(1): 321--343.
- Demarest L. (2016) Book review. Democracy in Africa: successes, failures, and the struggle for political reform. Review of: Cheeseman N.. Journal of Contemporary African Studies 35(1): 130--133.
- Demarest L. (2016), Staging a “Revolution”: the 2011–12 electoral protests in Senegal, African Studies Review 59(3): 61-82.
- Demarest L. (2015), Food Price Rises and Political Instability: Problematizing a Complex Relationship, European Journal of Development Research 27(5): 650--671.
- Demarest L. (2015) Book review. Peaceland: Conflict resolution and the everyday politics of international intervention. Review of: Auteserre S., Peaceland: Conflict resolution and the everyday politics of international intervention. African Affairs 114(454): 158-160.
- Demarest L. (2014) Book review. Food Security and Sociopolitical Stability. Review of: Barrett C.B.. European Journal of Development Research 26(5): 931-933.
- Demarest L. (2014) Book review. Property and Political Order in Africa: Land Rights and the Structure of Politics. Review of: Boone C.. African Studies Quarterly 15(1): 164-165.