I am a PhD candidate at Rice University in the Department of Political Science. I am a comparativist with a regional focus on Latin America. My research examines political corruption and electoral accountability, primarily in Latin American democracies. More specifically, my current research investigates strategies that political elites use to evade electoral accountability and maintain voter support in the face of corruption allegations and scandals. In my dissertation, I argue that political elites have various strategies at their disposal to convince voters to stick with them in contexts of corruption, such as the use of women candidates after corruption scandals and engagement in anti-corruption rhetoric. I investigate these elite strategies using novel methodological techniques. In another line of research, I study how voters' options within their electoral environment may make them more or less likely to engage in electoral accountability against elites perceived to be corrupt.
In 2018, I completed my BA in both Political Science and Spanish at The University of Alabama. At Alabama, I was also a member of the Honors College and the Blount Scholars Program, an interdisciplinary liberal arts minor and living-learning center. During my undergraduate degree, I worked as a classroom aid in local elementary schools, primarily teaching English to ESL students. Originally, I am from Massachusetts. Within the Rice community, I currently serve as the Political Science Graduate Student Liaison for the Center for Teaching Excellence. I am in the process of completing the Center for Teaching Excellence's Certificate in Teaching and Learning, a Rice program that provides formal pedagogical training in effective college teaching. I also serve as a Graduate Student Ambassador for the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office. I am a co-founder and former president of the Political Science Graduate Student Association at Rice. |
ete2@rice.edu
Rice University
Department of Political Science, MS-24
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005
Rice University
Department of Political Science, MS-24
6100 Main Street
Houston, TX 77005