Welcome to my website!

I am a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Gothenburg as part of the Fem-LEAD project. 

I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University in May 2024.

I specialize in comparative politics with a regional focus in Latin America. My research explores how corruption shapes voter behavior, elite behavior, and representation. I study when and why voters enact electoral accountability for corruption and how elites can evade accountability when their corruption is exposed. I am also interested in how elite gender influences the impact that corruption has on accountability and representation. My research has been published in Political Behavior and Electoral Studies.

I use various quantitative methods in my research including survey experiments, large scale statistical analyses, and text analysis. I also rely on qualitative data collected in the field. In Fall 2022, I conducted elite and expert interviews in Buenos Aires, Argentina for my dissertation.

Prior to Rice, I earned my B.A. in Political Science and Spanish (double major, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) at The University of Alabama.

You can contact me via email at emily.elia(at)gu.se and find me on Twitter at @Emily_Elia or on Bluesky at @emilyelia.bsky.social.