Duke hosts Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) 2026 meeting

The Duke Center for International Development hosted the Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), an interdisciplinary network of researchers and practitioners, for a policy event and meeting exploring the future of development research and practice. 

Held May 14-16 at the Sanford School of Public Policy, the gathering brought together 60 scholars and practitioners to share and discuss innovative research and address pressing development questions.

The opening event, “Does Development Evidence Travel? Regional Reflections on Governance and Policy,” featured three panel discussions that reflected on the major cross-regional development challenges likely to shape the coming decade, examined lessons from EGAP-style interventions, and considered how to navigate the evolving development landscape.

Panelists from Duke included Edmund Malesky, Oscar L. Tang Family Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Alessandra L. González, assistant research professor of economics, and Eric Mvukiyehe, assistant professor of political science. 

During the main EGAP meeting, which included a focus group on climate governance, participants discussed and provided feedback on a dozen research projects investigating issues such reforestation, tropical forest conservation, fiscal accountability, decentralization, and public sector reform across diverse country contexts.

Additionally, Malesky presented findings from the Metaketa Initiative's study on women’s political participation. He was joined by fellow project steering committee members Alexander Coppock, Northwestern University, and Susan Hyde, University of California-Berkeley. 

“It was an honor to host EGAP at Duke,” Malesky said. “I look forward to the EGAP meeting every year because it brings together scholars devoted to solving major policy problems and demonstrating those solutions in the most rigorous, transparent and replicable ways possible.”

Hosting the meeting at Duke also created valuable opportunities for students in the Master of International Development Policy (MIDP) program to attend and learn about cutting-edge research projects.

"One of the things I value most about being at Sanford is having access to spaces where academics, practitioners and public policy experts come together to exchange ideas," Kristelle Pascual MIDP'27 shared.

"Hearing scholars contend with the questions that drive their research in real-time helped to contextualize my academic understanding of governance and institutions and how these scholars operationalize theory to context," Eunice Jijon Jarquin MIDP'27 added. "It was incredibly motivating to hear directly from scholars what their questions are in the context of climate, development and governance."

EGAP has more than 300 members across 43 countries who are united by a focus on experimental research and dedicated to generating and disseminating rigorous evidence on topics of governance, politics and institutions.

Scenes from EGAP at Duke

Edmund Malesky, second from the left, participated on a panel discussing major development challenges.

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Sixty participants joined conversations on research projects and pressing development questions.

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Alessandra González speaks on the panel discussing navigating the new development landscape.

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The meeting included several networking opportunities.

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Duke MIDP fellows Eunice Jijon Jarquin and Vivien La Torre at the program's reception. 

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