Claire Mcloughlin

Claire has over a decade’s experience of conducting policy-relevant research in collaboration with a range of development agencies. Her core interest is in understanding when citizens accept authority, with a particular focus on how state-society relations develop over time, and how states win or lose legitimacy through their performance. She has published widely on the politics of service delivery, the role of education in building state legitimacy, and how non-state actors support or undermine state-building processes. Much of her work has focused on fragile or conflict-affected states. She is particularly interested in perceptions of ‘fairness’ in divided societies, and the narratives that leaders use to justify, defend and legitimise their actions.