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. I have conducted fieldwork in D.R. Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda.
My current book project – Women, Quotas, & Autocracy – offers a book-length investigation into the origins and outcomes of gender quotas in authoritarian regimes. It leverages cross-national analysis and an in-depth case study of Uganda in a multimethod research design. The book starts by examining why autocrats decide to adopt gender quotas. Afterward, it investigates the multifaceted roles women play once quotas are implemented. The findings challenge commonly held notions about women under autocracy, revealing them as important actors in the story of regime survival. In doing so, the book broadens our understanding of the logics behind institutional adaptation and the roles women play in authoritarian settings.
My most recent published book with Cambridge Elements entitled Democracy in Trouble: Democratic Resilience and Breakdown from 1900 to 2022 was co-authored with Myles Williamson (University of Baltimore) and Christopher Akor (University of Alabama) as part of the Comparative Political Regimes Lab. This short book investigates nine cases of executive aggrandizement in the 20th and 21st centuries. We uncover similar patterns in terms of tactics and targets across the episodes, and also evaluate how errors and agents of accountability helped democracy survive in five of the cases.
My work has appeared in several academic journals, including African Studies Review, the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, the European Journal of Political Research, Human Rights Quarterly, Political Science Research & Methods, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Social Science & Medicine. I also co-edited the book Why Democracies Develop and Decline (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
You can find out more about some of my research on Episodes of Regime Transformation, Pandemic Backsliding, and Why Democracies Develop and Decline by following the links above.
Amanda B. Edgell 