About Me

I am a Reader Lecturer (associate professor) at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and received my PhD from the European University Institute. Before moving to Glasgow, I worked at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Warwick and Duke University. My research explores the causes and effects of descriptive representation as well as the process of policy-making in democracies.  In my book "Ideologues, Partisans and Loyalists" (Oxford University Press 2016), I argue that politicians' own ideology and political clout matter for policy. In my current project, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation and in collaboration with Marburg University in Germany, we explore the role of politicians' personal characteristics and wealth on wealth and income inequality.  In other current projects I investigate the relationship between political and economic inequality, the professionalization of politics, legislative institutions and expertise in legislatures and governments, the transformation of social democratic parties, policy coordination and energy policy, the long-term political effects of deindustrialisation and international trade on local communities.