03/18/2026
By Barbara Bashabe

The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (FAHSS), Global Studies Program, invites you to attend the doctoral dissertation defense of Barbara Bashabe, titled “From Rhetoric to Reactions: How Political Actors and Citizens Navigate Political Constraint in African Elections."

Candidate Name: Barbara Bashabe
Degree: Doctoral
Defense Date: Friday, April 3, 2026
Time: 9 – 11 a.m.
Location: Dugan Room 105

Thesis/Dissertation Title: “From Rhetoric to Reactions: How Political Actors and Citizens Navigate Political Constraint in African Elections”

Dissertation Committee:

  • Chair: Jenifer Whitten-Woodring, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Dean Honors program, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Angélica Durán-Martínez, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Political Science, Director of Global Studies Ph.D. program, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Christoph Strobel, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of History, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Brief Abstract: Elections in hybrid regimes are often assumed to be tightly controlled by incumbents, limiting meaningful political competition and citizen participation. Yet electoral periods frequently generate intense political expression that can shape both voter behavior and electoral stability. This dissertation examines how political expression operates under conditions of constraint. Drawing on original datasets from Kenya’s 2017 and 2022 presidential elections and Uganda’s 2021 presidential election, the study analyzes campaign rhetoric, citizen dissent, and patterns of engagement under political risk. The findings show that campaign rhetoric can influence whether elections escalate into violence or remain peaceful, and that citizens continue to participate politically under repression by adapting how they express and engage in order to reduce exposure to risk. These findings challenge the assumption that repression suppresses political expression entirely, showing instead that electoral outcomes in hybrid regimes are shaped through the interaction between elite messaging and adaptive citizen responses.