Institute of Development Studies

Biography

Dr Peter Houtzager received his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and has been a fellow at IDS since 1999. He is a political scientist with broad training in comparative politics and historical-institutional analysis. Areas of specialisation include: citizen-state relations; varieties of civil society and democratisation processes; social movement theory, and political development in Latin America.

Selected Projects and Recent Work

• Global Uncertainties: Security in an Africa of Networked, Multi-Level Governance
• Academic Partnership in Support of Teaching Development Aid Curriculum in Russia
• Multi-Methods Research Course
• Network of Excellence for Qualitative Research in the Social Sciences in sub-Saharan Africa

Thematic Expertise

Governance; Collective Action; Participation; Politics and Power; Rights; Social Protection.

Geographic Expertise

Latin America and the Caribbean.

Selected Publications »»

• Houtzager, P. P. and Joshi, A. (2012) 'Widgets or Watchdogs? Conceptual Explorations in Social Accountability', Public Management Review 14.2:145-162
• Houtzager, P. P. (2011) 'The Political Construction of Civil Societies (A Construção Política das Sociedades Civis) ' in Gurza Lavalle, A. (eds), O Horizonte da
• Houtzager, P. and Acharya, A. (2011) 'Associations, Active Citizenship, and the Quality of Democracy in Brazil and Mexico', Theory and Society 40.1:1-36
• Houtzager, P. and White, L. (2010) 'The Long Arc of Pragmatic Economic and Social Rights Advocacy' in White, L. and Perelman, J. (eds), Stones of Hope: How African activists reclaim human rights to challenge global poverty, Stanford: Stanford University Press
• Houtzager, P. and Gurza Lavalle, A. (2010) 'Civil Society's Claims to Political Representation in Brazil', Studies in Comparative International Development 45.1:1-29
• Houtzager, P. and Gurza Lavalle, A. (2009) 'Participatory Governance and the Challenge of Assumed Representation in Brazil', IDS Working Paper 321, Brighton: IDS
• Houtzager, P., Joshi, A. and Gurza Lavalle, A. (2008) 'State Reform and Social Accountability', IDS Bulletin 38.6, Brighton: IDS
• Houtzager, P., Acharya, A. and Gurza Lavalle, A. (2007) 'Associations and the Exercise of Citizenship in New Democracies: Evidence from São Paulo and Mexico City ', IDS Working Paper 285, Brighton: IDS
• Houtzager, P, Acharya, A and Gurza Lavalle, A (2006) 'Associations, Citizenship, and the Quality of Democracy'
• Castello, G., Houtzager, P. and Lavalle, A. G. (2006) 'Representação Política Mediante Organizações Civis: A Construção de Legitimidade no Contexto da Pós-transição', Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais 21.60:43-67
• Castello, G., Houtzager, P. and Lavalle, A. G. (2006) 'Democracia, Pluralização da Representação e Sociedade Civil', Lua Nova: Revista de Cultura e Política 67:49-103
• Gurza Lavalle, A, Houtzager, P.P. and Castello, G. (2006) 'Variedades de Sociedad Civil: la construcción política de las organizaciones civiles', paper presented at the 3rd Congreso Latinoamericano de Ciencia Política, UNICAMP, Brazil, 4-6 September'
• Gurza Lavalle, A, Houtzager, P.P. and Castello, G (2006) 'Varieties of Civil Society and Patterns of Political Representation in Contemporary São Paulo and Mexico City', paper presented at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Associação Brasileira de Ciencia Política, UFMG, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 26-29 July'
• Houtzager, P.Gurza Lavalle, A and Acharya, A (2005) 'Exploring the politics of poverty reduction: how are the poorest represented?', World Development Special Edition 33.6:951-964
• Houtzager, P.Gurza Lavalle, A and Acharya, A (2005) 'Beyond Comparative Anecdotalism: Lesson on Civil Society and Participation from Sao Paulo, Brazil', World Development 33:951-964