Democracy today faces a myriad of challenges but unexpected outcomes in recent elections bear promise for democratic futures. This Speaker Series event, hosted by the King Center on Global Development, will provide an analysis of the state of global democracy, focusing on recent historic elections in India, Mexico, and South Africa. Speakers will examine surprises from these elections and what they signal about the ground-level realities of democracy. Lessons learned from elections in these countries will enable an exploration of prospects in the forthcoming elections in the United States.

About the Panelists

Daniel de Kadt is Assistant Professor of Quantitative Research Methods at the London School of Economics (LSE). Before joining LSE he was a Senior Data Scientist at Deliveroo, and Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California Merced. His research focuses on decision making, democracy, and South Africa and has been published in the American Political Science Review, Nature, and the Journal of Politics. His work has also been featured in Foreign Affairs and The Washington Post.

Jennifer Piscopo is Professor of Gender and Politics at Royal Holloway University of London. Her research on women’s political representation and gender and elections in Latin America, the United States, and the globe has appeared in over thirty peer-reviewed journals and numerous edited volumes. She consults regularly for international organizations and national governments, including UN Women and United Cities and Local Government. Her public-facing writing on women and political empowerment has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and Ms. Magazine, among other outlets.

Milan Vaishnav is a senior fellow and director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His primary research focus is the political economy of India, and he examines issues such as corruption and governance, state capacity, electoral behavior, and the diaspora. He is also the host of “Grand Tamasha,” a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by Carnegie and the Hindustan Times. His work has been published in scholarly journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Asian Survey, Governance, India Review, the Journal of Democracy, Perspectives on Politics, PS: Political Science and Politics, and Studies in Indian Politics.

Soledad Artiz Prillaman is an assistant professor of political science at Stanford University and a Faculty Affiliate of the King Center on Global Development. She is the faculty director of the Inclusive Democracy and Development Lab, funded by the King Center. Her research investigates the political consequences of development; the political behavior and representation of minorities, specifically women; inequalities in political engagement; and the translation of voter demands. In her recent, award-winning book, she evaluates women’s political behavior in rural India and how and when democracies fail to represent women.