Rachel Beatty Riedl


Rachel Beatty Riedl is a political scientist specializing in democracy and authoritarianism, especially in Africa. She is a professor of Politics at the Department of Government and the Peggy J. Koenig '78 Director of the Center on Global Democracy at Cornell University.
𝕏 beattyriedl

Education

Riedl earned a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Subsequently, she obtained an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from Princeton University.

Career

After an assistant and associate professorship in the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University, Riedl became a professor at Cornell University's Department of Government. She acted as the Director of the Einaudi Center at Cornell University from 2019 to 2024. Moreover, she serves on the Advisory Board of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame.

Research

Riedl's research focuses on democracy and authoritarianism, including questions of participation, political parties, and governance. Her first book, Authoritarian origins of democratic party systems in Africa, was published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press.

Awards