Welcome! I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University and a Research Fellow at the MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. Prior to starting at Yale, I taught at Temple University and was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. I received my Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University in 2011.

My research examines how international actors try to aid democracy, promote women’s representation, and support elections in developing countries. I am the author of a book on this topic, The Taming of Democracy Assistance: Why Democracy Promotion Does Not Confront Dictators (Cambridge University Press, 2015). My main ongoing projects explore the effects of international actors on election credibility and the changing role of international NGOs in world politics.

My work has appeared in journals such as Comparative Political Studies, International Organization, Journal of Politics, and Perspectives on Politics. I also occasionally write for outlets such as the Monkey Cage blog on the Washington Post and ForeignPolicy.com. My research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation. I am a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.