Rachel Beatty Riedl

Rachel Beatty Riedl’s research expertise is on democracy and authoritarianism globally, and particularly across Africa. She focuses on questions of democratic backsliding and resistance, citizen participation, institutions, political parties, and local governance. Riedl serves as the Peggy J. Koenig ’78 Director of the Cornell Center on Democracy and is a Professor in the Brooks School of Public Policy and in the Department of Government at Cornell University. Riedl is the author of the award-winning “Authoritarian Origins of Democratic Party Systems in Africa”, co-author of “From Pews to Politics: Religious Sermons and Political Participation in Africa”, and co-editor of “Global Challenges to Democracy: Comparative Perspectives on Backsliding, Autocracy and Resilience”. Riedl led the Democracy, Rights and Governance learning agenda “Opening Democratic Spaces” research report. Riedl is also a member of the Open Society University Network’s Forum on Democracy and Development. She is host of the podcast Democracy Dialogues.