About Me
l am a political scientist and currently a Senior Research Fellow with the United Nations University's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Previously, I was Research Director, Index of African Governance, at Harvard University, and Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics. I have worked also as a consultant, most recently with the World Bank. I hold a PhD in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, and BS in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
Much of my current research focuses on ethnic inequality, including its measurement, political implications, and possibilities for change. Recently, I have begun several new related activities on migration. I also have ongoing work on the impact of ethnic divisions on governance and public goods provision and on foreign aid and institution-building in fragile states. My work on these and related topics is published in various journals and edited volumes, including World Development, Oxford Development Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and Social Indicators Research. I am the editor of Development Assistance for Peacebuilding and Fragility, Aid, and State-building: Understanding Diverse Trajectories (both Routledge, 2017) and of eight journal special issues -- in the Journal of Development Studies, Oxford Development Studies (with Carla Canelas), Social Indicators Research (with Carla Canelas, forthcoming), The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, International Peacekeeping, Public Administration and Development (with Danielle Resnick), The Journal of Globalization and Development (with Miguel Niño-Zarazua), and Third World Quarterly.
I have spent a number of years engaged in research on governance in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular attention to its measurement. Among my publications in this area are the first two editions of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (co-authored with Robert I. Rotberg), which has become a standard reference on governance.
My work draws on qualitative and quantitative tools and has been informed by fieldwork in multiple countries, including Benin, Bolivia, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Somaliland, and South Africa, among others. I first became interested in African politics as a university student when I spent a semester studying in Niamey, Niger. I have since spent time in over half of the countries in the region. While at MIT, my thematic interests in ethnicity and class in electoral politics led me to research on Latin America, with particular attention to Bolivia. My research has since returned to a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, but I continue to follow developments in Latin America with special interest and to do occasional research on the region. I am from the United States (Honolulu, Hawaii), but I spent quite a bit of time as a child outside the US, especially in Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong, and Tangail) -- which had a lot to do with my early interest in development studies.
I am a rather earnest believer in the potential of social scientific research to contribute, directly and indirectly, to addressing “real world” problems (see, e.g., here and here). That is why I undertook a PhD and why engagement with policy communities has been an integral part of much of my work.
My husband Omar McDoom also happens to be a political scientist. We have two kids, who at this writing are 3 and 6. They keep us on our toes! I am an occasional runner (here's a little story about my first marathon) and a regular cargo biker.
For my CV, please click here.
Much of my current research focuses on ethnic inequality, including its measurement, political implications, and possibilities for change. Recently, I have begun several new related activities on migration. I also have ongoing work on the impact of ethnic divisions on governance and public goods provision and on foreign aid and institution-building in fragile states. My work on these and related topics is published in various journals and edited volumes, including World Development, Oxford Development Studies, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, and Social Indicators Research. I am the editor of Development Assistance for Peacebuilding and Fragility, Aid, and State-building: Understanding Diverse Trajectories (both Routledge, 2017) and of eight journal special issues -- in the Journal of Development Studies, Oxford Development Studies (with Carla Canelas), Social Indicators Research (with Carla Canelas, forthcoming), The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, International Peacekeeping, Public Administration and Development (with Danielle Resnick), The Journal of Globalization and Development (with Miguel Niño-Zarazua), and Third World Quarterly.
I have spent a number of years engaged in research on governance in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular attention to its measurement. Among my publications in this area are the first two editions of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (co-authored with Robert I. Rotberg), which has become a standard reference on governance.
My work draws on qualitative and quantitative tools and has been informed by fieldwork in multiple countries, including Benin, Bolivia, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Somaliland, and South Africa, among others. I first became interested in African politics as a university student when I spent a semester studying in Niamey, Niger. I have since spent time in over half of the countries in the region. While at MIT, my thematic interests in ethnicity and class in electoral politics led me to research on Latin America, with particular attention to Bolivia. My research has since returned to a focus on sub-Saharan Africa, but I continue to follow developments in Latin America with special interest and to do occasional research on the region. I am from the United States (Honolulu, Hawaii), but I spent quite a bit of time as a child outside the US, especially in Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong, and Tangail) -- which had a lot to do with my early interest in development studies.
I am a rather earnest believer in the potential of social scientific research to contribute, directly and indirectly, to addressing “real world” problems (see, e.g., here and here). That is why I undertook a PhD and why engagement with policy communities has been an integral part of much of my work.
My husband Omar McDoom also happens to be a political scientist. We have two kids, who at this writing are 3 and 6. They keep us on our toes! I am an occasional runner (here's a little story about my first marathon) and a regular cargo biker.
For my CV, please click here.