{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in Political Science","slug":"new-books-in-political-science-408770","podcast_index_feed_id":408770,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/6sq2TaYn","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","image_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/7743b695-b4cd-4c21-acde-c1a69915e314/c3014373-19d9-4555-a6a8-e5b8e97c934c/3000x3000/af9ef2afee05125bb265ca99804e6c8a.png?aid=rss_feed","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":600,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science","last_synced_at":"2026-10-02T08:23:11.868223+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770"},"episode":{"title":"Compromised Coalitions: The Paradox of Postconflict Power Sharing in Africa with Alexander Noyes (U Pennsylvania Press, 2026)","slug":"compromised-coalitions-the-paradox-of-postconflict-power-sharing-in-africa-with-alexander-noyes-u-pennsylvania-press-2026","published_at":"2026-09-29T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/compromised-coalitions-the-paradox-of-postconflict-power-sharing-in-africa-with-alexander-noyes-u-pennsylvania-press-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770","url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com","audio_url":"https://injector.simplecastaudio.com/7743b695-b4cd-4c21-acde-c1a69915e314/episodes/1144785a-30f0-49f1-b831-ea083539e698/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=7743b695-b4cd-4c21-acde-c1a69915e314&awEpisodeId=1144785a-30f0-49f1-b831-ea083539e698&awSourceEpisodeId=8e3ac412-d722-48b1-b7c6-86454cd0c85d&feed=6sq2TaYn","summary":"When an election turns violent and neither side will concede, why is the usual answer to put both sides in the same government? Alex Noyes has spent nearly two decades asking whether that reflex works. Compromised Coalitions: The Paradox of Post-Conflict Power Sharing in Africa out in 2026 from the University of Pennsylvania Press, draws on more than 120 interviews with senior politicians and stakeholders in Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Togo to give an unsettling answer. Power sharing can advance democratic reform, but only when two conditions hold: inclusive politics among the parties, and outside enforcers willing to hold them to the deal. Both are rare. And even where the deal ends the killing, it rewards a losing incumbent with unearned power and sets a precedent. In our conversation, Noyes explains why more than 600 such pacts have been struck since the Cold War, what the neglected Togo case reveals, and why he argues these arrangements should almost never be used after election violence. Against the scholarly consensus, Noyes finds these pacts can deliver real democratic reform, but only under conditions that rarely hold, and always at the cost of a compromised start. The costs outweigh the gains, and policymakers should stop defaulting to the model. Our guest is Alex Noyes, a fellow at the Brookings Institution's Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology. Our host is Eleonora Mattiacci, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Amherst College. She is the author of \"Volatile States in International Politics\" (Oxford University Press, 2023).","meta_description":"When an election turns violent and neither side will concede, why is the usual answer to put both sides in the same government? Alex Noyes has spent nearl…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1763,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-political-science-408770/episodes/compromised-coalitions-the-paradox-of-postconflict-power-sharing-in-africa-with-alexander-noyes-u-pennsylvania-press-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-political-science-408770/compromised-coalitions-the-paradox-of-postconflict-power-sharing-in-africa-with-alexander-noyes-u-pennsylvania-press-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}