Publications
Research
Grouped by theme below. Several papers speak to more than one theme, so a few appear twice. Use Work in progress for unpublished work, or By year for a single chronological list.
PDFs are posted for personal and scholarly use. Where a publisher’s version is the only one available, the link goes to the journal.
Gender and Climate Change
How gender shapes who is concerned about climate change and who is heard in environmental decision-making.
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2026
Representation Increases Women’s Influence in Climate Deliberations: Evidence from Community-Managed Forests in Malawi
American Journal of Political Science. 70(3): 1077–1096.
Journal Open access
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2023
Facing Change: Gender and Climate Change Attitudes Worldwide
American Political Science Review. 117(2): 591–608.
Journal Book project Open access
Covered by The Economist. This article sets out the puzzle and theory behind the book project.
In progress
The Climate Gender Gap: Where and Why Men and Women Think Differently about Climate Change
Book manuscript with Sarah Sunn Bush (University of Pennsylvania). Manuscript drafted.
Gender and Resistance to Decarbonization in the Arabian Gulf
With Sarah Sunn Bush.
Electoral Gender Quotas
Where quotas come from, how they are implemented and reformed, and what they change — in public spending, in policy, and in citizens’ attitudes toward the women they elect.
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2026
Electoral Gender Quotas and Democratic Legitimacy
American Political Science Review. 120(1): 123–140.
Journal Open access
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2021
Electoral Systems and the Process of Substantive Representation: Lessons from Namibia and Uganda
In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing in New Democracies, eds. Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson, and Melanie Phillips. Oxford University Press.
Chapter Open access
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2021
How Do Electoral Gender Quotas Affect Policy?
Annual Review of Political Science. 24: 235–252.
A review of what two decades of quota research has — and has not — established.
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2019
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2018
Do Electoral Gender Quotas Really Reduce Bias? Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Southern Africa
Journal of Experimental Political Science. 5(3): 182–194.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
-
2018
How Women’s Incumbency Affects Future Elections: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Lesotho
World Development. 110: 385–393.
-
2018
Quota Shocks: Electoral Gender Quotas and Government Spending Priorities Worldwide
Journal of Politics. 80(3): 916–932.
-
2017
Quotas and Women’s Substantive Representation: A Content Analysis of Ugandan Plenary Debates
Politics & Gender. 13(2): 276–304.
-
2016
Comparative Regional Patterns in Electoral Gender Quota Adoption: A Social Network Approach
KFG Working Paper Series No. 71, “The Transformative Power of Europe,” Freie Universität Berlin.
-
2015
Women’s Political Engagement under Quota-Mandated Female Representation: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment
Comparative Political Studies. 48(3): 333–369.
-
2014
Electoral Gender Quotas and Attitudes toward Traditional Leaders: A Policy Experiment in Lesotho
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 33(4): 1007–1026.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
-
2014
Namibia at a Crossroads: 50/50 and the Way Forward
IPPR Democracy Report and Legal Assistance Centre Monograph Series. Windhoek, Namibia.
Book review
- 2024
Review of Making Gender Salient by Ana Catalano Weeks
Politics & Gender. 20(2): 522–524.
Voice and Influence in Deliberative Bodies
What happens after women enter public decision-making — from community groups to national legislatures: who gets recognized to speak, whose priorities make it onto the agenda, and how party discipline mediates the link between presence and influence.
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2026
Representation Increases Women’s Influence in Climate Deliberations: Evidence from Community-Managed Forests in Malawi
American Journal of Political Science. 70(3): 1077–1096.
Journal Open access
-
2021
Electoral Systems and the Process of Substantive Representation: Lessons from Namibia and Uganda
In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing in New Democracies, eds. Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson, and Melanie Phillips. Oxford University Press.
Chapter Open access
-
2021
Gender and Party Discipline: Evidence from Africa’s Emerging Party Systems
American Political Science Review. 115(3): 869–884.
Journal Open access
-
2021
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2019
In Whose Interest? Gender and Mass-Elite Priority Congruence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Comparative Political Studies. 52(1): 69–101.
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2017
Quotas and Women’s Substantive Representation: A Content Analysis of Ugandan Plenary Debates
Politics & Gender. 13(2): 276–304.
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2014
Present without Presence? Gender, Quotas, and Debate Recognition in the Ugandan Parliament
Representation. 50(3): 379–392.
Reprinted in Gender Quotas and Women’s Representation: New Directions in Research, eds. Mona Lena Krook and Pär Zetterberg (Routledge).
In progress
When Crises Entrench Gendered Power: Male Elite Adaptation in the Ugandan Parliament
With Alyssa Heinze, Cecilia Josefsson, and Pär Zetterberg. Manuscript resubmitted.
Gender Quotas Change How Legislators Speak: Evidence from Namibia
With Cecilia Josefsson and Pär Zetterberg.
Democratic Legitimacy and Political Ambition
What citizens infer from who makes a decision — and how exclusion and personal experience shape who decides to run for office.
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2026
When the Personal Becomes Political: Sexual Assault and Women’s Political Engagement
Journal of Politics. Ahead of print.
-
2026
Electoral Gender Quotas and Democratic Legitimacy
American Political Science Review. 120(1): 123–140.
Journal Open access
-
2024
Founding Narratives and Men’s Political Ambition: Experimental Evidence from US Civics Lessons
British Journal of Political Science. 54(1): 129–151.
Journal Open access
-
2023
-
2023
Women Grab Back: Exclusion, Policy Threat, and Women’s Political Ambition
American Political Science Review. 117(4): 1465–1485.
Journal Open access
Covered by the LSE United States Politics and Policy blog.
-
2019
All Male Panels? Representation and Democratic Legitimacy
American Journal of Political Science. 63(1): 113–129.
Winner, 2017 MPSA Sophonisba Breckinridge Award.
Covered by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, The Monkey Cage, Teen Vogue, and Pacific Standard.
In progress
Gender-Balanced Institutions Increase Public Trust in Post-Conflict Democracies
With Diana Z. O’Brien, Jennifer M. Piscopo, Luis Camacho, and Zoe Slowinski.
Attitudes toward Gender Equality
Whether exposure changes minds: how living under a gender quota, being represented by a woman, or raising daughters does — and often does not — shift citizens’ attitudes about gender and authority.
-
2023
Daughters Do Not Affect Political Beliefs in a New Democracy
Journal of Experimental Political Science. 10(1): 137–147.
Journal Open access
-
2021
-
2020
(How) Do Voters Discriminate Against Women Candidates? Experimental and Qualitative Evidence from Malawi
Comparative Political Studies. 53(3–4): 601–630.
-
2018
Do Electoral Gender Quotas Really Reduce Bias? Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Southern Africa
Journal of Experimental Political Science. 5(3): 182–194.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
-
2015
Women’s Political Engagement under Quota-Mandated Female Representation: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment
Comparative Political Studies. 48(3): 333–369.
-
2014
Electoral Gender Quotas and Attitudes toward Traditional Leaders: A Policy Experiment in Lesotho
Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 33(4): 1007–1026.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
Elections and Local Governance in Africa
How African voters view women candidates, and how the design of local government shapes who runs for local office.
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2021
Deeper Decentralization, Fewer Women? Decentralization and Women’s Candidacies for Local Office in Benin and Malawi
In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing in New Democracies, eds. Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson, and Melanie Phillips. Oxford University Press.
Chapter Open access
-
2020
(How) Do Voters Discriminate Against Women Candidates? Experimental and Qualitative Evidence from Malawi
Comparative Political Studies. 53(3–4): 601–630.
-
2018
How Women’s Incumbency Affects Future Elections: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Lesotho
World Development. 110: 385–393.
-
2015
When Elites Meet: Decentralization, Power-Sharing, and Public Goods Provision in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone
Policy Research Working Paper No. WPS 7335. World Bank Group.
In progress
Women’s Group Empowerment Can Increase Political Participation: Evidence from Five Coordinated Field Experiments
EGAP Metaketa V. Manuscript under review.
Kinship and Women’s Collective Action: Evidence from Patrilineal and Matrilineal Malawi
With Amanda Lea Robinson, Boniface Dulani, and Asiyati Chiweza. Manuscript under review.
Research Methods
Methodological work on the design and interpretation of gender experiments in comparative politics.
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2021
Gender Experiments in Comparative Politics
In Advances in Experimental Political Science, eds. Donald Green and James Druckman. Cambridge University Press.
Labor Unions and Political Preferences
Earlier work on how union membership and organizational leadership shape members’ political attitudes.
-
2026
When the Personal Becomes Political: Sexual Assault and Women’s Political Engagement
Journal article · Journal of Politics. Ahead of print.
-
2026
Electoral Gender Quotas and Democratic Legitimacy
Journal article · American Political Science Review. 120(1): 123–140.
Journal Open access
-
2026
Representation Increases Women’s Influence in Climate Deliberations: Evidence from Community-Managed Forests in Malawi
Journal article · American Journal of Political Science. 70(3): 1077–1096.
Journal Open access
-
2024
Founding Narratives and Men’s Political Ambition: Experimental Evidence from US Civics Lessons
Journal article · British Journal of Political Science. 54(1): 129–151.
Journal Open access
-
2023
Daughters Do Not Affect Political Beliefs in a New Democracy
Journal article · Journal of Experimental Political Science. 10(1): 137–147.
Journal Open access
-
2023
-
2023
Facing Change: Gender and Climate Change Attitudes Worldwide
Journal article · American Political Science Review. 117(2): 591–608.
Journal Book project Open access
Covered by The Economist. This article sets out the puzzle and theory behind the book project.
-
2023
Women Grab Back: Exclusion, Policy Threat, and Women’s Political Ambition
Journal article · American Political Science Review. 117(4): 1465–1485.
Journal Open access
Covered by the LSE United States Politics and Policy blog.
-
2021
Deeper Decentralization, Fewer Women? Decentralization and Women’s Candidacies for Local Office in Benin and Malawi
Book chapter · In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing in New Democracies, eds. Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson, and Melanie Phillips. Oxford University Press.
Chapter Open access
-
2021
Electoral Systems and the Process of Substantive Representation: Lessons from Namibia and Uganda
Book chapter · In Women and Power in Africa: Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing in New Democracies, eds. Leonardo Arriola, Martha Johnson, and Melanie Phillips. Oxford University Press.
Chapter Open access
-
2021
Gender Experiments in Comparative Politics
Book chapter · In Advances in Experimental Political Science, eds. Donald Green and James Druckman. Cambridge University Press.
-
2021
Gender and Party Discipline: Evidence from Africa’s Emerging Party Systems
Journal article · American Political Science Review. 115(3): 869–884.
Journal Open access
-
2021
Gender and Policy Persuasion
Journal article · Political Science Research and Methods. 9(4): 818–831.
-
2021
How Do Electoral Gender Quotas Affect Policy?
Journal article · Annual Review of Political Science. 24: 235–252.
A review of what two decades of quota research has — and has not — established.
-
2020
(How) Do Voters Discriminate Against Women Candidates? Experimental and Qualitative Evidence from Malawi
Journal article · Comparative Political Studies. 53(3–4): 601–630.
-
2019
All Male Panels? Representation and Democratic Legitimacy
Journal article · American Journal of Political Science. 63(1): 113–129.
Winner, 2017 MPSA Sophonisba Breckinridge Award.
Covered by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, The Monkey Cage, Teen Vogue, and Pacific Standard.
-
2019
-
2019
In Whose Interest? Gender and Mass-Elite Priority Congruence in Sub-Saharan Africa
Journal article · Comparative Political Studies. 52(1): 69–101.
-
2018
Do Electoral Gender Quotas Really Reduce Bias? Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Southern Africa
Journal article · Journal of Experimental Political Science. 5(3): 182–194.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
-
2018
How Women’s Incumbency Affects Future Elections: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Lesotho
Journal article · World Development. 110: 385–393.
-
2018
Quota Shocks: Electoral Gender Quotas and Government Spending Priorities Worldwide
Journal article · Journal of Politics. 80(3): 916–932.
-
2017
Quotas and Women’s Substantive Representation: A Content Analysis of Ugandan Plenary Debates
Journal article · Politics & Gender. 13(2): 276–304.
-
2016
Comparative Regional Patterns in Electoral Gender Quota Adoption: A Social Network Approach
Working paper · KFG Working Paper Series No. 71, “The Transformative Power of Europe,” Freie Universität Berlin.
-
2015
When Elites Meet: Decentralization, Power-Sharing, and Public Goods Provision in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone
Working paper · Policy Research Working Paper No. WPS 7335. World Bank Group.
-
2015
Women’s Political Engagement under Quota-Mandated Female Representation: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment
Journal article · Comparative Political Studies. 48(3): 333–369.
-
2014
Electoral Gender Quotas and Attitudes toward Traditional Leaders: A Policy Experiment in Lesotho
Journal article · Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 33(4): 1007–1026.
Covered by Foreign Policy’s The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women podcast.
-
2014
Namibia at a Crossroads: 50/50 and the Way Forward
Policy report · IPPR Democracy Report and Legal Assistance Centre Monograph Series. Windhoek, Namibia.
-
2014
Present without Presence? Gender, Quotas, and Debate Recognition in the Ugandan Parliament
Journal article · Representation. 50(3): 379–392.
Reprinted in Gender Quotas and Women’s Representation: New Directions in Research, eds. Mona Lena Krook and Pär Zetterberg (Routledge).
-
2014
Provoking Preferences: Unionization, Trade Policy, and the ILWU Puzzle
Journal article · International Organization. 68(1): 33–75.
-
2012
Trade Unions
Book chapter · In The Oxford Companion to American Politics, ed. David Coates. Oxford University Press.
Work in Progress
Papers and projects currently under review, in revision, or in the field. Published work appears under the themes above.
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The Climate Gender Gap: Where and Why Men and Women Think Differently about Climate Change
Why gender differences in climate concern widen as countries grow richer, drawing on an original fifteen-country survey, in-depth qualitative work in five countries, and original coding of media coverage and party manifestos.
Manuscript drafted
-
When Crises Entrench Gendered Power: Male Elite Adaptation in the Ugandan Parliament
How male legislators adapted to preserve influence during a national health crisis, using the Ugandan parliament’s debate records.
Manuscript resubmitted
-
Women’s Group Empowerment Can Increase Political Participation: Evidence from Five Coordinated Field Experiments
A coordinated set of field experiments testing whether women’s groups raise women’s political participation.
Under review
-
Kinship and Women’s Collective Action: Evidence from Patrilineal and Matrilineal Malawi
Whether descent systems shape women’s capacity for collective action, comparing patrilineal and matrilineal communities in Malawi.
Under review
-
Gender-Balanced Institutions Increase Public Trust in Post-Conflict Democracies
Whether gender-balanced decision-making bodies raise public trust in institutions in post-conflict settings.
-
Gender and Resistance to Decarbonization in the Arabian Gulf
How gender shapes resistance to decarbonization in wealthy petrostates.
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Gender Quotas Change How Legislators Speak: Evidence from Namibia
Whether quota-elected legislators speak — and are heard — differently, using debate records from the Namibian parliament.