Rachel Gisselquist is a political scientist, with specialization in the comparative politics of the developing world. Her research focuses on governance, democratization and elections, state fragility and post-conflict reconstruction, and ethnic and identity politics, with particular attention to sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. She has conducted fieldwork in a number of countries, including Benin, Bolivia, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Somaliland, and South Africa. She was previously a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Research Director of the Index of African Governance project at Harvard University. She holds a PhD in political science from MIT.