Works | Amel Ahmed, Ph.D.

Democratization

Professor Ahmed's main area of specialization is democratic studies, with a special interest in elections, voting systems, legislative politics, party development, and voting rights. She examines these issues in historical and comparative perspective and her work combines a regional focus on Europe and the United States.

Published Work

“Is the American Public Really Turning Away from Democracy? Backsliding and the Conceptual Challenges of Understanding Public Attitudes. Perspectives on Politics, July 2022 1-12. link

“American Political Development in the Mirror of Europe” in Comparative Area Studies:Methodological Rationales and Cross-Regional Applications, Ariel Ahram, Patrick Köllner, and Rudra Sil eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).

“The Politics of History and the History of Economic Development" Journal of Politics (Jan 2015) 77.1

"Rethinking Backsliding: Insights from the Historical Turn in Democratization Studies". Comparative Democratization Newsletter, Fall 2014.

“Democratization Theory and the Arab Spring" with Giovanni Capoccia, Middle East law and Governance Journal (2014) 6.1: 1-31.

Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dominance (Cambridge University Press, 2013) link

"The Existential Threat: Varieties of Socialism and the Origins of Electoral Systems in Early Democracies", Studies in Comparative International Development (June 2013) 48.2: 141-171. PDF

"Revolutionary Blind-Spots: The Politics of Electoral System Choice in the Egyptian Transition" Middle East Law and Governance Journal. 2011. Vol. 3, No. 2.

“Reading History Forward: The Origins of Electoral Systems in Advanced Democracies” Comparative Political Studies Special Issue on The Historical Turn in Democratization Studies. August/September 2010 43: 1059-1088.

In Progress Work

Conflict and Cooperation: Institutional Sequencing, Legislative Politics, and Regime Stability in First Wave Democracies (Book Manuscript)“

“Democratic Backsliding for Whom: The Effects of Framing on Support for an Inclusive Democracy” with Stephanie Chan. (Article Manuscript, In Progress)

“Institutional Sequencing and Regime Stability: Understanding the Reverse Sequence in German Political Development, 1867-1933” with Stephanie Chan (Article Manuscript, Under Review)

“Presidential Campaigns, the Popular Vote, and the Electoral College: Understanding the Discrepancies.” With Gregory Wall (Article Manuscript)

“Political Parties and Democratic Governance” in Placing Parties American Political Development (Invited Article Manuscript, Under Review)

"Lessons from Weimar: The Mobilization of Weimar's History on the Left" (Invited Article Manuscript)

Disaggregating Democracy: A Genealogy of Political Regimes” (Article Manuscript)

Research methodology

Professor Ahmed has a special interest in research methods and has written about mixed-method research designs, the position of historical analysis within the social sciences, and comparative area studies.

Published Work

“What Can We Learn from History?: Competing Approaches to Historical Methodology and the Weberian Alternative of Reflexive Understanding” Polity, 54(4) (October 2022). link

“The Utility of a Comparative Area Studies framework for Historical Analysis” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Forthcoming Vol. 18. No 1.

“Multi-Method Research and Democratization Studies: Intellectual Bridges Among Islands of Specialization”Democratization, Vol 26:1 (2018) 97-139).

“When Multi-Method Research Subverts Methodological Pluralism: Or Why We Still Need Single Method Research” with Rudra Sil, Perspectives on Politics (December 2012)10.4: 935-953.

“Is Multi-Method Research Really Better?” with Rudra Sil, Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section Newsletter, Fall 2009.

In Progress Work

“The Commensurability Question: The U.S. in a Comparative Area Studies Framework” with Fatih Cetin (Article manuscript)

“Comparative Historical Analysis and Comparative Area Studies” (Invited Article Manuscript)

“History as Method: Competing Approaches to Historical Methodology and the Search for a Middle Ground” (Article Manuscript)

Publicly engaged scholarship

Professor Ahmed's scholarship has served as the basis for broad public engagement around themes related to democracy voting and Electoral systems.

Media Commentary: Phl-17 In focus; Pacifica News Network; Share America; Vermont Public Television; Vox; Washington Post; Commonwealth Magazine; The New Yorker

Op-Ed: Why We Should Rethink Voting Rights From the Ground Up, Washington Monthly Feb 2021 link

UMass Panel: Capitol Siege: Making Sense of What Happened, Jan 2021 video

American Political Science Association Featured Panel: The Regime Question: The United States in Global Perspective, Jan 2021 video

WGBH Forum: The Electoral College, Is Reform Needed? December 2020 video

U.S. State Department, Talk on the 2020 U.S. Elections, November 2020

Federal Hall/Brennan Center Series "Debate Defends Democracy": Democracy and the Electoral College, October 2020 link

American Spring Documentary: Solving the Chaos Conundrum of the Electoral College, September 2020 video

Encounters: Women's Suffrage, Critical Dialogue hosted by the Hartford History Center and the Hartford Public Library, September 2020

American Democracy Collaborative, Democracy 20/20: Can the U.S. Hold Free and Fair Elections This Fall?, July 2020 video

American Experience: “The Vote” PBS discussion commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, June 2020 video

No Jargon Podcast: “Voting in 2020”, May 2020 audio

Constitution Center Virtual Town Hall: “Why Does the Electoral College Exist”, April 2020 video

"Dear Rep. Omar: Can we talk about Anti-Semetism?, Public Seminar, March 2019

Public Talk: “Debating the Electoral College” Debate with Akhil Amar, of Yale Law School, Apr19, 2017

Public Talk: “Freedom of Religion and the Consequences of Politicizing Islam” (Part of Defending Democracy, Engaging Ideas Series), Mar 30, 2017

No Jargon Podcast: “Dangers to Democracy in the United States”, January 2017

“In Defense of the Electoral College”, The American Prospect, Dec 23, 2016.

Panel on the Electoral College: Presentation for the League of Women Voters, Springfield MA, February 7 2016.

"Chief Justice Roberts was Right: How to Fix the Voting Rights Act," Talking Points Memo, February 21, 2014.

"Restoring the Voting Rights Act Will Not Do Enough to Ensure Fair Elections" Policy Brief for the Scholars Strategy Network.January 2014

“When Election Rules Undermine Democracy”, Policy brief for the Scholars Strategy Network, April 2013.

Interviews with WGBY: Topics include Democratization, the Egyptian Transition, and U.S. Elections (Interviews spanned 2011-13).

Collaborated with Al Jazeera English to develop an interactive electoral map of Egypt in preparation for the first parliamentary elections, October 2011.