Barry Driscoll

Barry Driscoll is a PhD student studying Africa in the UW-Madison Political Science Department. His research focuses on state-society relations in developing countries. His dissertation examines the reasons for variation in state capacity not across countries but within them. He has twice graduated Summa Cum Laude, first with a BA International in History, Sociology, and Political Science from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and then with a MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics. As a development professional, he has worked for the World Bank, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, and United Nations Developmet Programme. This summer, he will use the Scott Kloeck-Jenson grant in Ghana to meet with market traders, tax collectors, and politicians in various local governments, to begin to understand why some local governments are more effective than others.