Thalia Gerzso

I am a lecturer (assistant professor) in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York. My research focuses on political institutions, democratic processes, and African politics. More specifically, I am interested in (1) the type of institutions incumbents use to remain in power, (2) the conditions under which they weaponise one institution instead of another, and (3) why these institutional manipulations fail in some cases. I am also interested in the policy implications and implementations of my research. I have a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa and use a wide array of methodological tools. I received my PhD in political science from Cornell University. I hold a Master of International Law from the Université Paris Panthéon Assas and an LLM from Cornell Law School. After passing the New York Bar exam, I worked as a human rights advocate for NGOs and a lawyer. My research has been supported by the American Political Science Association, the United States Institute of Peace, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, the Qualitative and Interpretive Research Institute, and the Cornell Graduate School.