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INTRODUCTION
I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and an Adjunct Faculty Member at Winston-Salem State University. My primary subfield is Comparative Politics, but I also focus on Methodology and International Politics. I expect to defend my dissertation in May 2025 and receive my degree by August 10, 2025. I have also received an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in African American Studies from Columbia University, and an M.A. in Astronomy from Wesleyan University. I was a double major in Political Science and Physics at Oberlin College.
RESEARCH
I study political institutions and political parties, especially the effects of formal and informal internal party rules. Most of my research analyzes how political parties and institutions alter the representation of, conflict with, and violence against ethnic minorities, immigrants, and women. My research focuses on institutions and parties in West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) and Western Europe. I have received several external and internal research grants to support my dissertation research and several other research projects.
DISSERTATION SUMMARY
How can we explain the increasing number of Afro-, Asian, and Maghrebi European ministers, MPs, and more recently party leaders—the “public face”—of the party in countries where far-right parties rose to become the first, second, or third largest parliamentary party and anti-immigration and anti-multicultural attitudes are high? According to an increasingly influential theory about ethnic representation, parties are vote-seeking and make a strategic choice about which voters to appeal to during elections. If parties appeal to ethnic minorities who are often viewed as immigrants by the broader society, they risk losing anti-immigration and anti-multicultural voters and vice versa. Thus, parties will adopt restrictive immigration and multicultural policies if they seek anti-immigration voters or nominate large numbers of ethnic candidates if they seek to appeal to ethnic minorities. According to theory, vote-seeking parties should only appeal to ethnic minorities when they significantly outnumber anti-immigration voters not when far-right parties finish first, second, or third in parliamentary elections. Parties in theory make an either-or choice—ethnic minority or anti-immigration voters. Contrary to expectations, even where far-right parties finish first, second, or third, the same parties simultaneously adopt restrictive immigration policies and significantly increase ethnic representation.
When do parties act in such counter-theoretical ways? I will argue that three types of party crises alter the perception of what is risky and what is not. Historic electoral losses, internal party scandals, and large national and local ethnic protests such as BLM and anti-Zwarte Piet movement have the potential to shift parties’ perceptions of the risks and benefits of ethnic candidates. When these critical events occur in the presence of sizable far-right parties, parties are pushed to adopt contradictory policies—restricting immigration while electing and appointing Black, South Asian, and Maghrebi politics to highly visible positions. Contrary to theory, these three crises and growing anti-immigration success push parties to appeal to both.
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