CDDRL welcomes incoming fellows
Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia
Academic Institution: Harvard University
Discipline and date of graduation: Ph.D. in Government, Summer 2014
Research Interests: Politics and economics in non-democracies, political economy of development, political violence, food security
Manuscript working title: Political Survival and the Modern Prince
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? The opportunity to be surrounded by other scholars with similar substantive interests but diverse geographic expertise is extremely exciting to me. I think it's precisely what I need at the moment.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? I will spend most of the year preparing the book manuscript for submission. The dissertation asked how modern African autocrats survive nominally democratic institutions. To focus on the elites who comprise the regime -- as well as their political parties and the elections in which they compete -- the dissertation focused exclusively on the Republic of Congo, ruled by President Denis Sassou Nguesso for all but five years since 1979. I expect to spend much of the year ascertaining to what extent the arguments are generalizable to other parts of autocratic Africa and beyond.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I really enjoy cooking. A lot. I've cooked through most of The French Laundry Cookbook and am now cooking through the Eleven Madison Park Cookbook. Honestly, I spend way too much time cooking. It's sort of absurd.
Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon
Academic Institution: Yale University
Discipline and expected date of graduation: Ph.D. in Political Science, expected May 2015
Research Interests: Authoritarianism; Elite Networks; Coalitional Politics; Social Exclusion; Middle East Politics
Dissertation Topic/Title: The Ties that Bind: Making and Breaking Authoritarian Ruling Coalitions
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? My research fits well with CDDRL’s substantive focus on democratization. Opening the black box of authoritarian coalitional formation and evolution is essential for understanding how ruling coalitions may come apart. I am also eager to collaborate with scholars in The Program on Arab Reform and Democracy, especially at a time when the Arab uprisings and coalitional breakdowns have unfortunately moved towards reconfigured authoritarian arrangements.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? As a fellow at CDDRL, I plan to complete my dissertation and begin revising it for publication. I also plan to produce an article on the methodological and ethical challenges of conducting archival research and elite interviews in authoritarian settings.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I’m a catless cat lady.
Hometown: Thousand Oaks, CA
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and expected date of graduation: Ph.D. in Political Science, expected June 2015
Research Interests: statebuilding, state weakness, international security, conflict, political development
Dissertation Topic/Title: The International Sources of Sovereignty and State Weakness
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? My research is broadly focused on the understanding the causes of incomplete governance and political underdevelopment. These are among the core themes in CDDRL's research programs, and CDDRL brings together both rigorous scholarship and a sensitive to policy-relevant research in these thematic areas. For that reason, I am excited about joining CDDRL's community of researchers, particularly those engaged in scholarship in the Governance Project and in the Program on Poverty and Governance. I look forward to productive conversations around the Center, and to helpful guidance and advice.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? During my residency at CDDRL, I plan to complete my dissertation writing. I am also eager to begin a new project with another CDDRL pre-doctoral fellow in which we examine the relationship between statebuilding and democracy in developing countries.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I make an excellent cheesecake!
Hometown: Nairobi, Kenya
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and expected date of graduation: PhD in Political Science, expected June 2015
Research Interests: Institutions, Legislative Studies, Political Economy of Development, Elections and Governance, Natural Resource Management and Regional Cooperation
Dissertation Topic/Title: Institutions and Political Change: The Case of African Legislatures
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? I was attracted to CDDRL because of the centers strong emphasis on the need to link academic research with policy. I am interested in the ways in which institutional change impact development outcomes through the evolution of better, accountable governance and public policies. My research on legislatures includes analyses of how levels legislative institutionalization impact public finance management in African states.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? I hope to finish writing my dissertation, to publish at least two chapters of the dissertation as stand alone papers, and to continue contributing to the policy world through my writing and consultancies.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I run half marathons. Because I am Kenyan.
Hometown: Guadalajara, Mexico
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and expected date of graduation: PhD in Political Science, expected 2015
Research Interests: Economics of Crime and Violence, Legislative Studies, Political Economy of Development.
Dissertation Topic/Title: Three Essays on the Political Economy Drug-Related Violence in Mexico
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? CDDRL is a great place for students doing comparative work since it has a unique and vibrant community of faculty, visiting scholars, and policy makers from all over the world, including an important number of specialists in Latin American politics.
Moreover, the Center’s research agenda substantially aligns with my work on the relationship between democracy, partisanship, and governments’ efforts to contain and reduce crime and violence.
Finally, the work of the Program on Poverty and Governance at CDDRL on criminal violence and citizen security throughout Latin America has significantly shaped my PhD dissertation and research agenda.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? I would like to complete the part of my dissertation that explores the relationship between Mexico’s democratization, criminal violence, and the government’s enforcement of the rule of law. In addition, the pre-doctoral fellowship will facilitate the completion of different ongoing research projects I am involved with at the Center.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I’m a good salsa dancer, jigsaw puzzle enthusiast, and amateur beach volleyball player.
Hometown: Bremen, GA
Academic Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Discipline and expected date of graduation: Ph.D. in Political Science, expected May 2015
Research Interests: Comparative Politics, Policing, Governance, Rule of Law, and Chinese Politics
Dissertation Topic/Title: Policing China: Struggles of Law, Order, and Organization for Ground-Level Officers
What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/post-doctoral program? CDDRL's mission to understand how the rule of law and government institutions operate speaks directly to my work on the police bureaucracy. The Center's multidisciplinary approach brings together.scholars and intellectuals, making it an excellent forum for grappling with issues of institutional reform and local state security. As one of the newest additions to CDDRL, I look forward to engaging this community as I continue to investigate the weaknesses and strengths of the institutional apparatus China employs to carry out state priorities of reform and control.
What do you hope to accomplish during your year-long residency at the Center? While at CDDRL I will finish my dissertation and prepare two chapters for publication. I also plan to lay the groundwork for my next project on the rapidly evolving relationship between police and media.
Please state a fun fact about yourself! I'm a terrible gardener.