Stephen Kosack is a political scientist whose work focuses on political and economic development, particularly how governments become responsive and effective for people without unusual wealth, privilege, or other advantages. He has written on human development, education, health care, civil society, transparency and accountability, foreign aid, foreign direct investment, and democratic governance in the British Journal of Political Science, International Organization, the Annual Review of Political Science, World Development, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Comparative Education; in two books, The Education of Nations (Oxford University Press, 2012), and From the Ground Up (Brookings Institution Press, 2010; with Charles Griffin and Courtney Tolmie); and in policy papers for organizations including the UNDP and the Brookings Institution. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. Previously he was a labor policy advisor to the late Senator Edward Kennedy, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, and taught at Brown, the London School of Economics, and Harvard.
- “Functional Structures of U.S. State Governments,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, forthcoming. With Michele Coscia, Evann Smith, Kim Albrecht, Albert-László Barabási, and Ricardo Hausmann.
- “Which Countries’ Citizens are Better Off With Trade?,” World Development, Vol. 76, 2015, 95–113. With Jennifer Tobin.
- “The Logic of Pro-Poor Policymaking: Political Entrepreneurship and Mass Education,” British Journal of Political Science, Vol 44(2), 2014, 409-444.
- “Does Transparency Improve Governance?,” Annual Review of Political Science, Vol 17, 2014, pp. 65-87. With Archon Fung.
- “The Tertiary Tilt: Education and Inequality in the Developing World,” World Development, Vol 54, 2014, pp. 253-272. With Lloyd Gruber.
- The Education of Nations: How the Political Organization of the Poor, not Democracy, Led Governments to Invest in Mass Education, Oxford University Press, 2012.
- From the Ground Up: Improving Government Performance with Independent Monitoring Organizations, Brookings Institution Press, 2010. With Charles Griffin and Courtney Tolmie.