One of the most salient cleavages to be managed in developing nations is between cities and the countryside, and it plays itself out in markets for agricultural produce and food. Agricultural policy is a trade-off between rural and urban interests and results from different types of governments attempting to remain in power by addressing the competing claims of these constituencies. Policies go on to have significant effects on political stability and the chances of authoritarian regime failure.
Henry Thomson is an Assistant Professor in the School of Politics & Global Studies at Arizona State University. His research focuses on the political economy of authoritarianism and democratization. He was the recipient of the 2016 Juan Linz Prize for the Best Dissertation in Comparative Democratization from APSA, and from 2014-2017 was a Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.