Robert Tanner Bivens

Research Agenda

My research agenda is animated by an overarching question: Why do autocracies accept human rights? In order to explore this question, my agenda is build around three areas of interest. The first is a focus on the evolution of norms and institutional dynamics between states within regional organizations. The second is a focus on human rights within a global context, exploring the motivations for autocratic states to make proactive decision-making for political gain. Finally, I explore these cases of autocratic human rights decision making within the context of African states. My research has explored cases such as Angola’s LGBTQ+ rights progress, Equatorial Guinea’s death penalty progress, and the Gambia’s democratization progress. In addition to my work in Africa, I also explore general autocratic acceptance dynamics within LGBTQ+ rights discourse separating autocratic decision making into proactive and reactive driven pathways.

My work has been published in outlets such as The Journal of Peace Research, African Affairs, Pacific Affairs, and Africa Today and my current book project is focused specifically on Angola’s LGBTQ+ rights progress and how its relationship to other Portuguese-speaking African states informed its decision-making in its 2019 Penal Code Reform.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Peer-Reviewed Journals

2026. “Resistance is Not Futile: Rethinking Ethnicity, Tactics, and Outcomes in Civil Conflict.” Journal of Peace Research. 63(1): 28-40. With Ches Thurber. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopres/xjaf009

2026. “Cultural Cohesion in Regional Organizations: Equatorial Guinea, the CPLP, and its Death Penalty Abolishment.” African Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/adaf031

2025. “Responses May Vary: Online vs. In-Person Interviewing.” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research. 23(1): 16-23. Click Here.

2024. ““This is Not the 90’s”: Myanmar and Change in ASEAN’s Normative Order.” Pacific Affairs. 97(4): 773-794. With Rithiya Serey and Aarie Glas. https://doi.org/10.5509/2024974-art5

2024. “Progress & Skepticism: What Angola’s New Penal Code Means for its LGBTQIA+ Community.” Africa Today. 70(4): 25-46. https://doi.org/10.2979/at.00011

Book Chapters

2026. “Norm Neglect and Divergence Between LGBTQ+ Laws and the Social Acceptance of LGBTQ+ Communities: An Analysis to the Case of the Angolan Penal Code.” In Adam David Dubin, Frida Lyonga, & Rui Garrido’s (eds.) Queering African Laws: Identity, Inclusion, and Rights Protection for LGBTQ+ People Across Africa. Palgrave McMillian. FORTHCOMING. Preorder Link Here

Recordings

2025. “Global LGBTQ+ Politics in Authoritarian Times.” Panel Discussion. Shifting Values: LGBTQ+ Politics Beyond the EU. KU Leuven. Leuven, BEL.

Awards & Honors

2025 Eastern Illinois University Unit B Research, Scholarship, Creativity, and Service Achievement Award

2024 American Political Science Association (APSA) Human Rights Section Best Paper Honorable Mention Award