Bo Rothstein

I hold the August Röhss Chair in Political Science at University of Gothenburg, a position established by a donation to the university in 1901. I have also held positions at Oxford University, Blavatnik School of Government and Nuffield College and University of Uppsala and I have been Visiting fellow at Australian National University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Russell Sage Foundation,  Stanford University and University of Washington Seattle.
More information about Bo Rothstein

My research is concentrated on the issue quality of government. This relates to issues about corruption, clientelism, social justice, welfare policies and human well-being. My research combines questions in political philosophy such as how to conceptualize quality of government with empirical research about how to measure corruption, the effects of low/high quality of government and how to improve the quality of government. I have also carried out research about economic democracy and political power in Swedish politics.

Three recently published works:

• Rothstein, Bo. 2015. "The Moral, Economic, and Political Logic of the Swedish Welfare State." In The Oxford Handbook of Swedish Politics, ed. J. Pierre. Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press.
• Rothstein, Bo, and Jan Teorell. 2015. "Causes of Corruption." In Routledge Handbook of Political Corruption, ed. P. Heywood. London: Routledge.
• Uslaner, Eric M., and Bo Rothstein. 2016. "The Historical Roots of Corruption. State Building, Economic Inequality, and Mass Education." Comparative Politics 48 (2):227-48.

Three frequently cited works:

• Rothstein, Bo. 1998. Just Institutions Matter: The Moral and Political Logic of the Universal Welfare State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Rothstein, Bo. 2005. Social Traps and the Problem of Trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Rothstein, Bo, and Eric M. Uslaner. 2005. "All for All. Equality, Corruption and Social Trust." World Politics 58 (3):41-73.