Amel Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Political Science, has published Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice (2012 Cambridge University Press). 

Using case studies from the US, UK, France, and Belgium, the book explores the origins of demoratic instututions, linking historical and contemporary democractization. Professor Ahmed's new theoretical framework offers insights into how we can understand the dynamics of democratic development in both early democracies and in today's emerging democracies. 

Cathie Jo Martin, former chair of the Council for European Studies, calls the work a "wonderful, counterintuitive, myth-busting book [which] holds crucial lessons both for students of institutional analysis and for those who care about the abysmal performance of party politics in the post-industrial age"

Professor Ahmed will discuss findings from her book at a lecture on February 27 at 3:30 PM in Machmer e-23.