Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina
Academic Institution: Cornell University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Government, August 2026

Research Interests: Comparative political behavior, civil society, and democratic resilience.

Dissertation Title: Coming To: How Civic Consciousness Shapes Democratic Resilience 

What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? The range of theoretical, regional, and methodological approaches that scholars at CDDRL bring to their work is a huge draw. CDDRL is a rich and dynamic academic community, and one that I know will provide a foundation for great conversations and research at such a pivotal time for democracy globally.

What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am looking forward to working on my book manuscript, which examines when and how civil society challenges autocratization. Disaggregating civil society along ranges of formality and missions, I show that much of civil society does not recognize its own social capital. I then consider the circumstances in which this latent civic capacity can be activated in support of democratic norms and institutions. Outside of my book project, I am also excited to get to know and work with those in the CDDRL community.

Fun fact: I used to DJ for my college radio station. Now, you'll find me at any concert I can make my way to: country, jazz, pop, or my recent favorite... a pairing of Holst's Planets and the Star Wars score!

Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, expected June 2027

Research Interests: Infrastructure, political economy, authoritarianism, and trust in government.

Dissertation Title: Building Dictatorships: Large-Scale Infrastructure and Intermediate Trade

What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? Because I share several overlapping research interests with CDDRL faculty and researchers, it felt like a natural environment to further cultivate my research agenda on authoritarian resilience and democratic erosion vis-à-vis national development. CDDRL is also home to some of the world’s leading scholars on democracy, who I am extremely excited to engage with in the pre-doctoral program. 

What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? As a pre-doctoral fellow, I intend to complete my dissertation book project on authoritarian resilience and how specific strategies of economic growth have entrenched autocracies in the 21st century, despite the expectations of many Western observers and policymakers following the end of the Cold War. I also hope to continue learning from and collaborating with the wider CDDRL community.

Fun fact: When I was younger, I was part of the Wrexham AFC youth academy (the soccer team now co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds and the subject of a Netflix documentary series). So I would have been a pro soccer player in another lifetime!

Hometown: St. Clair, Michigan
Academic Institution: Stanford University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, June 2026  

Research Interests: Police repression, incarceration, labor control, land and natural resource extraction, colonialism and its legacies, inequality, and authoritarian practices in democracies.

Dissertation Title: How Police Enforce Economic Order: Evidence from Extraction in India

What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? CDDRL's unique gathering of experts at the intersection of democracy and development drew me to the Center because my work sits precisely at that intersection. I ask how economic development and the inequalities it produces shape the coercive behavior of nominally democratic states. I am so excited to pursue these questions in the CDDRL community, where I can learn different approaches and contexts by which to make sense of these phenomena.

What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? At CDDRL, I hope to develop my book manuscript, building on my dissertation project.

Fun fact: The bluffs on the part of the Pacific coast nearest to me contain abundant natural clay, which I love to forage to use in sculpture!

Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel
Academic Institution: Michigan State University
Discipline and degree conferral date (or expected): PhD in Political Science, May 2026

Research Interests: Democratic backsliding, nonviolent resistance, opposition politics, and international pressure.

Dissertation Title: "Standing for Democracy": Essays on Resistance to Democratic Backsliding

What attracted you to the CDDRL Pre/ Postdoctoral program? I was drawn to CDDRL's vibrant community of scholars working at the intersection of comparative politics and international relations, particularly its strengths in the study of democracy, democratic resilience, and democracy promotion. In an era when democracy is increasingly challenged, both domestically and internationally, I am especially excited to engage with and learn from leading researchers in democracy and international politics across different world regions. 

What do you hope to accomplish during your nine-month residency at CDDRL? I am hoping to develop a book project that extends my dissertation work on the nexus of international pressure and opposition to democratic backsliding. I also hope to advance several related projects, including on public support for democratic backsliding, opposition success in backsliding settings, and support for retaliatory behavior against former autocrats, as well as launch new collaborations with scholars in the CDDRL community.

Fun fact: I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and happened to be living there when the military took power through a coup in September 2006, sparking much of my research interests.