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I am an associate professor of comparative politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida.

My research and teaching experiences coalesce around issues in comparative politics and African politics with specific focus on comparative political institutions, democratization, political behavior, political identity (ethnicity, partisanship, and religion), public opinion, and quantitative research methods.

My current research agenda focuses on how multiparty elections in electoral democracies and competitive autocracies shape elite and mass legitimacy. There are three main avenues of inquiry within this agenda that explore the impact of 1) electoral commissions, 2) post-election judicial institutions, and 3) citizens and elites campaign and election experiences on political legitimacy.

My first book, Electoral Commissions and Democratization in Africa, is published with Oxford University Press. I have also published in leading journals, including Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies, Governance, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Political Studies, and Political Psychology.  I have experience conducting fieldwork and organizing elite and mass surveys in several African countries and advised numerous prominent democracy promotion and political development organizations.

I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University, my B.A. in Economics and Political Science from Williams College, and spent my formative years at Campion College High School in Kingston, Jamaica.

For more information, please see my CV and feel free to contact me at any time.