Ragnhild Louise Muriaas
Professor, Political Science
​Ragnhild Louise Muriaas is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Bergen. She obtained her PhD in comparative politics at the University of Bergen in 2008. From 2017 to 2021 she served as the Vice Dean of Research at the Faculty of Social Sciences and the leader of the board at the Centre for Women's and Gender Research (SKOK) at the University of Bergen.
Her research concerns questions of politics and gender with a focus on representation, political careers, and political financing. She was the PI of a large FRIPRO project financed by the Research Council of Norway called “Money Talks: Gendered Electoral Financing in Democratic and Democratizing States” (2016-2021). She is also a partner in another FRIPRO funded project, “The Cost of Doing Politics: Gender Aspects of Political Violence”, led by Vibeke Wang.
Her work has appeared in such journals as the American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, African Affairs, Political Studies and International Political Science Review. Ragnhild is also the editor of Gendered Electoral Financing: Money, Power and Representation in Comparative Perspective (2020) - with Vibeke Wang and Rainbow Murray and she has written the book Manipulating Political Decentralization: Africa's Inclusive Autocrats (2018) with Lovise Aalen.
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Get to know Ragnhild
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Is there a TV-show you are binging now?
I must admit that I binged season 1 and 2 of Bridgerton, but normally I “slow watch” series and TV-shows. My most recent favorite is The leftovers – but you can’t really bing it. You need time to recover and think between the episodes.
If you could have dinner with someone famous, dead, or alive, who would it be?
When I was a student, we discussed this, and then someone said Jesus and I agree. Would have been nice to pick his brain on a few issues. As a trained qualitative interviewer, I would of course have asked if it was ok for me to record the conversation.
Is there a book you would recommend within your field?
There are so many! If I had to pick only one, it would be Selecting Women, Electing Women: Political Representation and Candidate Selection in Latin America by Magda Hinojosa.
Which podcasts are you listening to right now and why?
The Duolingo French Podcast. I’m refreshing my French after years studying anglophone countries.
What kind of music are you listening to these days?
I’ve always been a great fan of bands on the alternative rock scene and indie pop. Yet, something is changing and I’m a bit confused these days. The artist I’ve listened most to the last year is Janelle Monáe, but the last couple of days I’ve been listening to Kae Tempest and Ibibio Sound Machine. And I just want to add that I love the song “Neil Young” by the Bergen artist Gabrielle.
Which novel would you recommend for purely entertainment purposes?
The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante.
What is your favorite thing to do to relax?
If I’m stressed and really need to get relaxed, I run as fast as I can in the woods or climb the stairs up “Stoltzen” in Bergen, or I can do the opposite, just fall flat on the coach playing a TV game, like Animal Crossing.
If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be, and what would you be doing?
I would be horseback riding with Vladimir Putin at his dacha and convince him that what he really wants to be remembered for is bringing democracy and freedom to Russia – not more acres of land.
