Karibu sana! Welcome! 

I am a first-generation college graduate and scholar. Currently, I serve as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Alabama. I am also a Research Fellow at the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Institute. My research broadly focuses on the politics of authoritarianism and regime transformation. I am particularly interested in how domestic institutions and actors interact with international concerns to shape the behavior of authoritarian regimes. As a consultant, I provide expertise on democratic governance, program initiation, survey design, and impact assessment for organizations like USAID, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Defense, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). In my free time, I enjoy rock climbing, brewing beer, and training my dogs Simcoe and Barley. My preferred pronouns are They/Them or She/Her.

I am always looking for opportunities to collaborate on research and international development projects. You can contact me at abedgell@ua.edu or on Twitter @acrowinghen.