Research
My current research centers around various aspects of democracy and democratization. I analyze the relative importance of different factors that may contribute to successful democratization of developing countries. Among the factors analyzed are: economic development, women’s status within society, literacy rate, economic aid, influence from major countries such as the United States, culture, religion, and ethnic fractionalization.
Here are some of my most recent publications:
- “Capturing the Maturity of Democracy: Polity and Freedom House Scores.” The annual meeting of the International Studies Association - South; Elon, NC:14-15 October 2011.
- “Rethinking Politico-Economic Models of Democracy in Democracy Promotion,” reviewed for International Studies Perspectives. 15 April 2011.
- “A Test of Relative Impacts of Different Measures of Democracy.” The annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association; Chicago, IL: 31 March - 3 April 2011.
- “Indices of Democracy: A Comparative Analysis (Revisited).” The annual meeting of the Northeastern Political Science Association; Boston, MA: 11-13 November 2010.
- “Internal versus External Requisites of Democracy.” The International Journal on World Peace, XXVII, Number 4, (September 2010) pp.49-87.
- “Indices of Democracy: A Comparative Analysis.” The annual meeting of the International Studies Association-West; Los Angeles, CA: 24-25 September 2010.
- “The Cultural Causes of Development and Conflict.” An invited presentation in the Roundtable at the International Studies Association-West’s annual meeting. Los Angeles, CA; 24-25 September 2010.
- “Comparative Democratization: What matters and What does not.” The annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association; San Francisco, CA: 1-3 April 2010.
- “Measuring Democracy: Comparative Analysis of Different Indices.” The annual meeting of the International Studies Association; New Orleans, LA: 17-20 February 2010.