Political scientist with comprehensive experience from research and Country of Origin reports and documents assessments. Research experience on political economy, opposition and political parties, political rights, democratic institutionalisation, NGOs. Expert on human and political rights abuse, political persecution, LGBT persecution, risk of return and of brutal and degrading treatment and torture.
Amundsen is a political scientist and senior researcher at the Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) in Bergen, Norway. He is focusing on democratic institutionalisation, parliaments, political parties, political corruption, and natural resources (petroleum resources management and revenue management). Amundsen was Research Director at CMI from 2000-2003, Director of the U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre from 2002-2006, and he has coordinated three CMI institutional research cooperation programmes.
Amundsen has conducted research in Bangladesh over several years, in co-operation with the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD, a Bangladeshi think tank), covering the parliament, political parties, corruption, and the general political climate.
Amundsen has conducted research in Angola over almost 20 years, following and analysing the political landscape in detail. A special focus has been on the institutions of oversight and control, the political parties, political corruption, and the political economy.
Amundsen has also done research on the political economy, ethnic relations, and gender in Malawi, and on the political economy, opposition, development aid and democratic institutionalization in Nigeria.
Amundsen has broad experience in writing tailor-made Country of Origin expert reports. He has produced over 50 expert reports for asylum requests and appeals (by early 2018) for UK, American, and Canadian solicitors and law firms, on Bangladesh, Angola, Nigeria and Malawi. The issues covered have ranged from the political background and human rights situation, political persecution, the conditions of opposition and dissent, to the situation of religious, ethnic, and sexual orientation minorities, legal issues, and the risk of return.
Amundsen has also done more than 15 document authenticity verifications/authentications.
Bangladesh:
- Mujib dynasty retains control in Bangladesh. East Asia Forum (Canberra, Australia), 10 August 2018.
- The ruins of Bangladesh’s LGBT community. East Asia Forum (Canberra, Australia), 23 March 2018
- Democracy decaying in Bangladesh. East Asia Forum (Canberra, Australia), 6 March 2018.
- Democratic Dynasties? Internal party democracy in Bangladesh. Party Politics, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 49-58, 2016.
- 'Pay up and off you go!' Buying political positions in Bangladesh. Book chapter 11 (pp 140-147) in T. Søreide and A. Williams (eds.): Corruption, Grabbing and Development: Real World Challenges. Cheltenham/UK and Northampton/MA, USA, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2014.
- The Parliament of Bangladesh. Representation and Accountability. With Rounaq Jahan. Dhaka and Bergen, CPD-CMI Working Paper Series No. 2, 2012.
Angola:
- Drowning in Oil. Angola and the Resource Curse. Comparative Politics, vol. 46, no.2, January 2014, pp. 169-189, 2014.
- Institutions of Checks and Balances: The Election Commission of Angola. Bergen: CMI. CMI Report R 5, 2013.
- Opposition Parties and the Upcoming 2008 Parliamentary Elections in Angola. With Markus Weimer. Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute. CMI Working Paper WP 2008:9.
- Civil Society in Angola: Inroads, Space and Accountability. With Cesaltina Abreu. Bergen, CMI. CMI Report 14, 2006.
Malawi:
- Country Evaluation Brief: Malawi. Norad, Oslo, Country Evaluation Brief, 2017.
- Women in Politics in Malawi. Inge Amundsen and Happy Kayuni (Eds.) Bergen and Zomba, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) and University of Malawi, Chancellor College, Department of Political and Administrative Studies (PAS), 2016.
Nigeria:
- Nigeria: Defying the Resource Curse. Inge Amundsen. Chapter 1 (pp. 17-27) in Aled Williams and Philippe le Billon (Eds), Corruption, Natural Resources and Development. From Resource Curse to Political Ecology. Cheltenham/UK, 2017, Eward Elgar Publ., 2017.
- Good Governance in Nigeria: A Study in Political Economy and Donor Support. Oslo, Norad, Norad Discussion Report 17, 2010.