Bo Rothstein

Bo Rothstein stands as a preeminent political scientist who holds the August Röhss Chair in Political Science at the University of Gothenburg, where he co-founded the influential Quality of Government (QoG) Institute in 2004. His academic journey includes a PhD from Lund University, followed by positions at Uppsala University, Harvard University, and a brief tenure at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government. His principled resignation from Oxford in 2017 over ethical concerns regarding donor connections to Donald Trump exemplifies his commitment to academic integrity. As a prolific scholar with an h-index of 60, his research focuses on corruption, social trust, and quality of government, leading to groundbreaking works including "Making Sense of Corruption," "The Quality of Government," and "Social Traps and the Problem of Trust." His contributions have earned him numerous accolades, including the Swedish King's medal and the European Research Council's Advanced Research Grant. Through the QoG Institute, which he established with Sören Holmberg, he has transformed our understanding of corruption and good governance, developing innovative approaches to measuring and combating corruption while training a new generation of researchers in the field. His work continues to influence global policy on corruption, institutional quality, and social trust, making him one of Sweden's most internationally cited political scientists.