Nicole Beardsworth is a lecturer in Politics at the University of the Witwatersrand and an honorary research fellow in Politics and International Studies (PAIS) at the University of Warwick. Her PhD research focused on opposition parties and electoral coordination in Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and her broader research is on the history and politics of sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on political parties, governance, democratisation and elections in Southern and Eastern Africa.

In this month’s episode of Critical South, Dr Nicole Beardsworth from the University of the Witwatersrand  interviews Aili Tripp, a Professor of Political Science, Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin, who  explains why African autocracies adopt gender reforms.  She tell us if there are any differences between how autocracies and democracies  on gender in the  promote women as leaders to gain traction. 

And in our political agenda segment this Time, Dr Laura Martin takes a quick look at how democracy is faring in West African country of Sierra Leone.