I am assistant professor of political science at Vanderbilt University.

My research examines how the rules governing autocratic institutions influence political outcomes. I am also interested in how this shapes citizen attitudes and interactions with the state. My studies and individual projects have been generously supported by the National Science Foundation, the Project on Middle East Political Science, and the U.S. Department of Education, among others. I previously held fellowships at Princeton University’s Niehaus Center and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center.

My work has appeared or is forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, World Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and the British Journal of Political Science, among other outlets.

I hold a PhD in political science from Columbia University and a BS from Yale University. Before entering academia, I was a research associate at the RAND Corporation and a Fulbright fellow in Syria.

You can reach me at erin [dot] a [dot] york [at] vanderbilt [dot] edu.