Welcome!

My name is Melanie L. Phillips. I completed my PhD in the Political Science Department at the University of California, Berkeley, in Spring 2022, and I am working as a researcher on the Political Transformations in African Cities Project supported by the Norwegian Research Council.

My research examines how women’s political representation in African countries is shaped by the intersection between the rules governing candidate selection and the norms associated with gendered family roles.  I use a combination of empirical methods in my work, including survey, experiments, and in-depth fieldwork. 

You can order a copy of my edited volume, Women and Power in Africa Aspiring, Campaigning, and Governing, with Martha Johnson and Leonardo Arriola here.

My work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the Research Council of Norway, the Institute of International Studies (UC Berkeley), and the African Studies Center (UC Berkeley). I have been published in The American Political Science Review and Party Politics with book chapters by Oxford University Publishing, Routledge, and ABC-CLIO. 

On this website, you can download a copy of my CV. You can read find a detailed summary of my book project, including a breakdown of the individual chapters. In addition to my job market paper,  I have included copies of my published works and working papers, along with descriptions of my larger research collaborations. Additionally, you can find a list of my teaching experience, including syllabi and evaluations.