International Forum for Democratic Studies Research Council Member

Andrew Reynolds

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Andrew Reynolds received his B.A. (Hons) from the University of East Anglia, a M.A. from the University of Cape Town and his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. His research and teaching focus on democratization, constitutional design and electoral politics. He is particularly interested in the presence and impact of minorities and marginalized communities. He has worked for the United Nations, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the UK Department for International Development, the US State Department, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the International Foundation for Election Systems. He has also served as a consultant on issues of electoral and constitutional design for Afghanistan, Angola, Burma, Egypt, Fiji, Guyana, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, Northern Ireland, Philippines, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. He has received research awards from the U.S. Institute of Peace, the National Science Foundation, the US Agency for International Development, and the Ford Foundation.

Among his books are: The Arab Spring: Pathways of Repression and Reform (Oxford, 2015) with Jason Brownlee and Tarek Masoud, Designing Democracy in a Dangerous World (Oxford, 2011), The Architecture of Democracy: Constitutional Design, Conflict Management, and Democracy (Oxford, 2002), Electoral Systems and Democratization in Southern Africa (Oxford, 1999), Election 99 South Africa: From Mandela to Mbeki (St. Martin’s, 1999), and Elections and Conflict Management in Africa (USIP, 1998), co-edited with T. Sisk. In 2012 he embarked on a multi year research project to study the impact of LGBT national parliamentarians on public policy around the world. His forthcoming book is The Children of Harvey Milk (2016).

His articles have appeared in journals including American Political Science Review, World Politics, Democratization, Politics and Society, Middle East Law and Governance, Electoral Studies, Journal of Democracy, The Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, and Political Science Quarterly. He has published opinion pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, and San Diego Union Tribune. His work has been translated into French, Spanish, Arabic, Serbo-Croat, Albanian, Burmese, and Portuguese.


Forum Events

“Constitution-Making, Electoral Design, and the Arab Spring,” International Forum for Democratic Studies (Mar. 29, 2012)

Forum Publications

“Tracking the Arab Spring: Why the Modest Harvest?” co-authored with Jason Brownlee and Tarek Masoud, Journal of Democracy (Oct. 2013) 

“Debating Electoral Systems: Getting Elections Wrong,” co-authored with John M. Carey, Journal of Democracy (Jan. 2012)

Related Publications

“Why the Modest Harvest of the Arab Spring?” co-authored with Jason Brownlee and Tarek Masoud, The Monkey Cage Blog Post (Oct. 21, 2013)

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