Sarah F. Thompson
About me
Welcome!
I am a 6th-year Ph.D. candidate in political science at Stanford University. My work spans South Asia and Latin America. I utilize causal inference methods (particularly field experiments and quasi-experimental methods), in my research on the politics of marginalized groups. I also work closely with policymakers in the field.
In my dissertation, I ask how key institutions can intervene to increase the political agency of groups like women, racial minorities, and indigenous populations, who are systematically excluded from state politics around the globe. My dissertation considers:
how logistical decisions by election bureaucrats can impact voting rates of women in Pakistan,
how party elites can use messaging to strategically recruit a more diverse base of rank-and-file party workers in India,
and how traditional governance structures insulate indigenous communities from cartel violence in Mexico.
I also co-organize WPESA, the Workshop on the Political Economy of South Asia. I am currently a visiting scholar at the Einaudi Center's South Asia Program, at Cornell University.
Contact me: sft1(at)stanford(dot)edu