I am an Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Before coming to UT Dallas, I was the Director of Applied Research for The Horizons Project, where I led research on countering democratic backsliding. I have also worked as a senior researcher at the US Institute of Peace, a post-doctoral research fellow at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, an external associate at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), and a research fellow at the Sie Chéou-Kang Center for International Security and Diplomacy, where I supervised data collection for the Social Conflict Analysis Database (SCAD) and the Nonviolent and Violent Campaigns and Outcomes (NAVCO) 3.0 data projects.
My research on civil resistance, democratization, and peacebuilding has been widely published in leading journals including the American Journal of Political Science, Perspectives on Politics, Comparative Political Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Social Forces, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Conflict Management and Peace Science. My first book, From Dissent to Democracy: The Promise and Peril of Civil Resistance Transitions, was published in 2020 by Oxford University Press.
I received my PhD in International Relations from the University of Denver in 2018. I was a 2012 recipient of the Korbel School’s Sie Fellowship and a 2016 recipient of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict’s PhD fellowship. I live in Plano, Texas. In my free time, I enjoy running, mountain climbing, and watching great films.
Interests
- Nonviolent / civil resistance
- Democratization
- Peacebuilding
Education
- PhD, International Relations, 2018 Josef Korbel School, University of Denver
- MA, International Relations, 2014 Josef Korbel School, University of Denver
- BA, 2008 Gordon College
Book
From Dissent to Democracy: The Promise and Peril of Civil Resistance Transitions
Research shows a strong connection between nonviolent civil resistance and democratization. Yet many successful civil resistance campaigns have been followed by authoritarian retrenchment. What explains this variation? Why are moments of hope when civil resistance topples dictators sometimes followed by moments of despair when dictators return to power? This book examines this question through a global,…
Recent Publications
Lifting the Fog of Nonviolent War: How Protests Signal Peacefulness
Training Activists in Nonviolent Action Increases Self-Efficacy and Reduces State Violence: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Sudan
Mapping the ROAD to Democracy: A Global Dataset of Overturning Attempts and Organizations in Civil Resistance Transitions
Breaking Down Pillars of Support for Democratic Backsliding
Turning Protest into Power: How the Women's March Worked
Working Papers
Man Up, Weapons Down: A Survey Experiment on Civil Resistance and Masculinity
Can participation in civil resistance reduce feelings of precarious masculinity among male participants? I propose an online survey experiment to test whether it can.
Supporting Protest or Repression During a Pandemic: The Suspension of Ideological Preferences in Emergency Situations
How do public health emergencies affect public support of protest and repression? We show that observers suspend some of their ideological preferences, but still prefer nonviolent over violent protests.
Testing the Locks on the Iron Cage of Liberalism: Western Patronage and Unarmed Revolution
How does Western patronage affect civil resistance? We show that Western client states are more likely to see civil resistance onset, but that civil resistance campaigns in these states are more likely to fail.