Welcome! I am Associate Professor of Democratic Governance at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. I am also a project manager with the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project based at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden).
I conduct research on government performance in Africa and beyond. Why do some governments serve their populations better than others? How do political institutions impact government performance and vice versa? What are the relationships between different governing actors -- politicians, bureaucrats, security forces, businesses, and civil society -- that generate better public policy outcomes?
My first book, Parties, Political Finance, and Governance in Africa (Cambridge University Press 2023), explains how political party institutions mediate the relationship between political financing and state politicization in Africa. My current book project examines bureaucratic responses to democratic backsliding. I have also worked on projects related to the measurement of state capacity and exclusion, the effects of oil revenue on bureaucratic institutions, the relationship between distributional inequality and autocratization, and civil-military relations (including military coups and international security sector assistance) in Africa.
When I'm not thinking about political and social problems, I'm usually out recreating in the mountains.