Amel Ahmed

Professor Ahmed's main area of specialization is democratic studies, with a special interest in elections, voting systems, legislative politics, party development, and voting rights. She examines these issues in historical and comparative perspective and her work combines a regional focus on Europe and the United States.  She is author of “Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dominance” (Cambridge University Press, 2013) which won the Best Book Award from the European Politics and Society Section of the American Political Science Association.
Her new book, entitled "The Regime Question: Foundations of Democratic Governance in Europe and The United States" (Princeton University Press, 2025) examines the dynamics and long-term impact of regime contention on political development in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries.
She is currently working on a new book entitled Democracies in America: Understanding Conflict Democratic Attitudes, which seeks to understand regime contention in the U.S. today through ground-up investigation of public conceptions of democracy. 
She also has a special interest in research methods and has written about mixed-method research designs, the position of historical analysis within the social sciences, and comparative areas studies.
Her work has appeared in various journals including: Comparative Political Studies, Perspectives on Politics, Democratization, Studies in Comparative International Development, and Journal of Politics.
She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the areas of Comparative Politics, West European Politics, American Political Development, Democratization, Electoral Studies, and Research Methods.

“The Regime Question: Foundations of Democratic Governance in Europe and the United States."

(Princeton University Press, 2025)

DEMOCRACY AND THE POLITICS OF ELECTORAL SYSTEM CHOICE: ENGINEERING ELECTORAL DOMINANCE(CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2013)  

* Received the Best Book Award from the European Politics and Society Section of the APSA, 2014.

“Crossing the Boundaries of Comparison: Comparative Area Studies and Comparative Historical Analysis” in Ariel Ahram, Patrick Köllner, and Rudra Sil eds., Advancing Comparative Area Studies (Forthcoming, Oxford University Press).

“Our Past, Weimar’s Present: Democracy’s Defense and the Inversion of an Historical Lesson” in Ned Lebow and Ludvig Norman eds. Why Weimar? (Cambridge University Press, 2024).

“Parties and Democracy: A Comparative Perspective” in Adam Hilton and Jessica Hejny, eds. Placing Parties in American Political Development.  (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024).

“What Can We Learn from History?: Competing Approaches to Historical Methodology and the Weberian Alternative of Reflexive Understanding” Polity, 54(4) (October 2022). link

“Is the American Public Really Turning Away from Democracy? Backsliding and the Conceptual Challenges of Understanding Public Attitudes. Perspectives on Politics, July 2022 1-12. link

“Multi-Method Research and Democratization Studies: Intellectual Bridges Among Islands of  Specialization”Democratization, Vol 26:1 (2018) 97-139).

“American Political Development in the Mirror of Europe” in Comparative Area Studies: Methodological Rationales and Cross-Regional Applications, Ariel Ahram, Patrick Köllner, and Rudra Sil eds. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017).

“The Politics of History and the History of Economic Development" Journal of Politics (Jan 2015) 77.1

“Democratization Theory and the Arab Spring" with Giovanni Capoccia , Middle East law and Governance Journal (2014) 6.1: 1-31.

"The Existential Threat: Varieties of Socialism and the Origins of Electoral Systems in Early Democracies", Studies in Comparative International Development (June 2013) 48.2: 141-171. Download (pdf) (332.29 KB)

“When Multi-Method Research Subverts Methodological Pluralism: Or Why We Still Need Single Method Research” with Rudra Sil, Perspectives on Politics (December 2012)10.4: 935-953. Download (pdf) (332.29 KB)

"Revolutionary Blind-Spots: The Politics of Electoral System Choice in the Egyptian Transition" Middle East Law and Governance Journal. 2011. Vol. 3, No. 2.

“Reading History Forward: The Origins of Electoral Systems in Advanced Democracies” Comparative Political Studies Special Issue on The Historical Turn in Democratization Studies. August/September 2010 43: 1059-1088.

“The Utility of a Comparative Area Studies framework for Historical Analysis” Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Vol. 18. No 1. 

"Rethinking Backsliding: Insights from the Historical Turn in Democratization Studies". Comparative Democratization Newsletter, Fall 2104.  

"Restoring the Voting Rights Act Will Not Do Enough to Ensure Fair Elections" Policy Brief for the Scholars Strategy Network.January 2014   

“When Election Rules Undermine Democracy”, Policy brief for the Scholars Strategy Network, April 2013.   

“Is Multi-Method Research Really Better?” with Rudra Sil, Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section Newsletter, Fall 2009. 

"Democracies in America: Understanding Public Attitudes about Democracy and Political Change" (Book Manuscript). 

“Democracy as Disequilibrium: Change and Continuity in the Rules of the Game” (Article Manuscript).  

“Expanding the Scope of the General: Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences?” (Invited Chapter for Rethinking Generalization, Erika Simmons and Nicholas Rush Smith eds.). 

“The Scholar as Agent of Political Understanding: Reconciling Weber’s Vocational Lectures” (Article Manuscript). 

Why No Public Political Science? The Epistemological Roots of Disciplinary Disengagement (Article Manuscript). 

“Out of this World?: The U.S. in Comparative Analysis” with Fatih Cetin. (Article Manuscript).  

“Continuities of German Political Development: Party Politics and Legislative Coalitions in the Reichstag, 1867-1933” with Stephanie Chan (Article Manuscript).   

“Disaggregating Democracy: Contradictions and Ambiguities of Political Regimes” (Article Manuscript).

• Professor Amel Ahmed Featured in Several Documentaries
• Amel Ahmed Panelist In "Debate Defense Democracy"
• Professor Amel Ahmed Selected to Co-Chair Largest Professional Gathering of Political Scientists in the US
• Ahmed Discusses Fix for Voting Rights Act
• Ahmed Receives SBS Research Grant to Explore US Party Formation
• Ahmed Wins Best Book Award from American Political Science Association
• Ahmed's New Book Explores "Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice"
• Ahmed Launches EgyptElections.org to Visualize Shifting Egyptian Voting Districts
• Ahmed Receives Healy Research Grant
• Ahmed Reflects on the Egyptian Crisis with WGBY

• Op-Ed: Why We Should Rethink Voting Rights From the Ground Up, Washington Monthly February 2021

• American Political Science Association Featured Panel: The Regime Question: The United States in Global Perspective, January 2021

• UMass Panel: Capitol Siege: Making Sense of What Happened, January 2021

• Swalif with Hamad Al Amari: All About U.S. Elections, December 2020

• WGBH Forum: The Electoral College, Is Reform Needed? December 2020

• U.S. State Department, Talk on the 2020 U.S. Elections, November 2020

• Federal Hall/Brennan Center Series "Debate Defends Democracy": Democracy and the Electoral College, October 2020

• Encounters: Women's Suffrage, Critical Dialogue hosted by the Hartford History Center and the Hartford Public Library, September 2020

• American Spring Documentary: Solving the Chaos Conundrum of the Electoral College , September 2020

• American Democracy Collaborative, Democracy 20/20: Can the U.S. Hold Free and Fair Elections This Fall?, July 2020

• American Experience: “The Vote” PBS discussion commemorating the 100^th Anniversary of the 19^th Amendment, June 2020

• Media Commentary: Phl-17 In focus; Pacifica News Network; Share America; Vermont Public Television; Vox; Washington Post; Commonwealth Magazine; The New Yorker

• No Jargon Podcast: “Voting in 2020”, May 2020

• Constitution Center Virtual Town Hall: “Why Does the Electoral College Exist”, April 2020

• "Dear Rep. Omar: Can we talk about Anti-Semetism?, Public Seminar, March 2019

• Public Talk: “Debating the Electoral College” Debate with Akhil Amar, of Yale Law School, Apr19, 2017

• No Jargon Podcast: “Dangers to Democracy in the United States”, January 2017

• Public Talk: “Freedom of Religion and the Consequences of Politicizing Islam” (Part of Defending Democracy, Engaging Ideas Series), Mar 30, 2017

• “In Defense of the Electoral College”, The American Prospect, Dec 23, 2016.

• Panel on the Electoral College: Presentation for the League of Women Voters, Springfield MA, February 7 2016.

• "Chief Justice Roberts was Right: How to Fix the Voting Rights Act," Talking Points Memo, February 21, 2014.

• Interviews with WGBY: Topics include Democratization, the Egyptian Transition, and U.S. Elections (Interviews spanned 2011-13).

• Collaborated with Al Jazeera English to develop an interactive electoral map of Egypt in preparation for the first parliamentary elections, October 2011.

• Introduction to Comparative Politics  

• Comparative Democratization (Grad and Undergrad) 

• Qualitative Research Methods (Grad) 

• Political Inquiry (Grad)