Graduate School of Public Policy

Dr Riccardo Pelizzo is a Professor in the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University. Dr Pelizzo is an internationally recognized political development specialist.
Dr Pelizzo's research focuses on issues of political development, institutional reform and institutional performance in developing countries. After designing measures and benchmarks for assessing parliaments' capacity and performance, he is currently devising several diagnostic tools to measure political stability and other dimensions of good governance.

Dr Pelizzo is the Associate Editor of Politics and Policy. He is the recipient of several fellowships, scholarships, competitive grants and awards. In addition to editing 3 volumes, Dr Pelizzo has authored 7 monographs and more than 50 peer reviewed articles. His studies have appeared or been translated into 11 languages (Arabic, Bahasa, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Kazakh and Vietnamese).

In addition to keeping an active research agenda, he has engaged academic and non-academic audiences in 25 countries and has provided expert opinion to constitutional drafters, institutional reformers, and legislatures in developing countries from Africa, Asia and the Pacific region.

Recent publications

Books

1. Africa at the Crossroads, Milano, Prospero, pp. 119.
2. Tourism in Africa, Milano, Prospero, (with Abel Kinyondo), pp.119.
3. The culture of accountability, London, Routledge, 2022 (with Gianfranco Pasquino), https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003312000

Articles

1. 'Good enough governance' in Post-Soviet Eurasia, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 2022, 24(4), pp. 329–359, https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2021.1893111
2. 'Sobriety, Human dignity and public morality': Ethical standards in Kazakhstan, Public Money and management, 2021 (with Colin Knox), https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1948671
3. ‘Deliver Africa from Debts’: Good governance alone is not enough to save the continent from debt onslaught, World Affairs, (with Abel Kinyondo and Mwoya Byaro), available online https://doi.org/10.1177/00438200211025519, 2021
4. “Sobriety, human dignity and public morality”: ethical standards in Kazakhstan, Public Money and Management, (with Colin Knox), available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2021.1948671, 2021
5. “’Good Enough’ Governance in Post-Soviet Eurasia, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis ( with Colin Knox and Omer Baris), available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/13876988.2021.1893111, 2021
6. “How Covid-19 has affected Africa’s Development”, World Affairs, vol. 184, n. 1, pp. 57-76 (with Abel Kinyondo), 2021
7. “Governance indicators explain discrepancies in COVID-19 data”, World Affairs, vol. 183, n. 3, pp. 216-234 (with Omer Baris). 2020
8. “Good governance and party system change”, Politics and Policy, vol. 48, n.2, pp. 265-287, 2020

Book chapters

1. “Democracy and governance. A conceptual analysis of a contested relation” in Mark Thompson and Stephen McCarthy (eds.), Governance and Democracy in the Asia-Pacific: Political and Civil Society, London, Routledge, pp- 26-47.
2. “Democracy, Accountability, and Parliaments”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 127-143.
3. “Free and Fair Elections”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 41-58.
4. “Preventing corruption by eradicating academic corruption”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 37-40.
5. “A review of anti-corruption measures”, ”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 25-36.
6. “Corruption: causes and consequences”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 11-24.
7. “Public Accounts Committees in Eastern Africa”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 143-166 (with Abel Kinyondo).
8. “Nigerian Public Accounts Committees in Global Perspective”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 107-126 (with Aminu Umar).
9. “The costs of party system change: The case of Tanzania”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 89-106 (with Abel Kinyondo and Zim Nwokora).
10. “A functionalist theory of oversight”, in R. Pelizzo (ed.), Understanding Good Governance, Saarbruecken, Lambert Academic Publishing, pp. 59-88 (with Abel Kinyondo and Aminu Umar).
11. “Il sistema di partito predominante: problemi e prospettive”, in Gianfranco Pasquino (ed.), Classico fra i classici. Parties and party systems quarant’anni dopo. Analisi e interpretazione dei mutamenti nei sistemi partitici, Genova, Erga editore, (with Zim Nwokora), pp. 11-33.