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Ukraine’s decentralization reform has been hailed as one of the country’s most successful since the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity. Recently, a piece in Foreign Affairs claimed that Ukraine’s decentralization has ‘brought the country together’ in the face of Russia’s 2022 invasion, fostering political legitimacy, solidarity, and community pride. Offering a different perspective, in my research paper published in the Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, I argue that the political, administrative, and fiscal processes of decentralization in Ukraine during the War in Donbas has further instituted certain inequalities and emboldened oligarchic power, which may pose difficulties for future post-conflict reconstruction, summarised here.

The post Devolution or Decapitation? Decentralization and the War in Donbas appeared first on Progress in Political Economy (PPE).

Farmers in low-income countries have multiple channels through which they respond to climate change. Some switch to growing more heat-resilient crops or crops that require less water. Others migrate or leave agriculture altogether. In new research, Amrit Amirapu, Irma Clots-Figueras, and Juan Pablo Rud find that temperature shocks to agricultural production in India increase voter turnout in rural areas and push rural voters to elect candidates who are on average poorer, less tainted by corruption, and have a background in agriculture....

A growing academic literature documents how farmers in low-income countries respond to the harmful effects of extreme heat on agricultural production. In many cases, farmers can change the way they produce, by using more land or labor or by switching crops. They can also try to move out of agricultural activities, sell assets, or migrate.