Overview

I hold a joint appointment as Research Associate Professor of Community Development and Applied Economics, and Political Science at the University of Vermont. I have also served as a Senior Research Associate at Freedom House, where I assessed democratic development in Africa Freedom House’s Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties. I have held appointments as Dean’s Professor of Applied Politics and Director of the Center on Democratic Performance (CDP) at Binghamton University (SUNY) from 1999-2003, as Senior Program Officer and Regional Director for East, Central and West Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (1989-98), and as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State, specializing in African Affairs (1981-89).

I co-authored Piecing a Democratic Quilt: Regional Intergovernmental Organizations and Universal Values (Kumerian Press, Bloomfield 2006), co-edited Democratic Institution Performance: Research and Policy Perspectives (Greenwood/Praeger, Westport, 2002), and have served as Contributing Editor of the Political Handbook of the World.(CSA Publications, Binghamton). I have also published many articles and chapters on issues related to democratic development in journals and edited publications. I also have consulted on democracy and governance issues for a wide variety of organizations including, in part, USAID, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, The Mitchell Group, TetraTech, MSI, the World Bank, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. My current research interests include the role of regional international organizations in promoting democratic governance, the challenges of democratic development in Africa, and assessing the impact of international donor assistance in democracy and governance.