I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Political Science Department at the University of Pittsburgh. My research focuses on the intersection of comparative political behavior, public opinion, social psychology, and experimental methods.

In my dissertation, I examine how voters navigate the tension between party loyalty and democratic commitment, and I explore the foundations of pro-democratic motivations through three distinct projects.

The first project investigates the conditions under which the conflict between party and democracy becomes consequential and when it triggers cognitive dissonance for voters. This project employs survey experiments in the U.S. context.

The second project extends this analysis to European Union countries, testing the behavioral implications of the dissonance caused by the party–democracy tradeoff. It examines the conditions under which voters withhold support from their own parties due to those parties’ undemocratic qualities. This project relies on data from the European Social Survey to evaluate the hypotheses.

The third project analyzes the origins of pro-democratic attitudes through a political socialization framework, using European Social Survey data to test the hypotheses.

Overall, my dissertation contributes to the growing body of literature that examines voters’ support for politicians and parties that subvert democracy.