Staff of the Chicago Center on Democracy
Susan Stokes
Faculty Chair
Dr. Susan Stokes is the Faculty Chair of the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she guides the strategy and direction of the center. She is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Political Science.
Kevin Kromash
Senior Research Associate
Kevin is the Senior Research Associate at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where he directs all aspects of the center’s operations, including strategy, research, fundraising, and communications.
Ipek Cinar
Research Project Lead and Program Assistant
Ipek is a PhD student in Comparative Politics at the University of Chicago. At the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she co-leads our research on the rhetorical strategies of populist politicians. She also supports events and other activities. Her research interests include democratic backsliding, comparative democratization, and political economy of regime transitions. She also studies quantitative methods and their computational applications to comparative politics.
Sanittawan Nikki Tan
Program Assistant
Nikki is a Program Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she supports events, research, and other activities. She is an M.A. student in the computational social science program at the University of Chicago, where she studies computational methods and their applications to political science research.
Andres Uribe
Research Project Lead
Andres Uribe is a PhD student in Comparative Politics at the University of Chicago. He is interested in civil conflict, competitive state-building, and governance during war. Current projects examine the impact of governance by states and non-state actors on political grievances and conflict dynamics. At the Chicago Center on Democracy, he co-leads our research on the rhetorical strategies of populist politicians.
Julia Du
Research Assistant
Julia is a Research Assistant at the Chicago Center on Democracy, supporting data gathering and analysis on the rhetoric of populist and establishment politicians. A second-year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, Julia’s major interests include economics, sociology, and history.
Charlotte Bairey
Intern
Charlotte is a data intern at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she is helping improve and utilize the Democratic Erosion Dataset. She is a rising fourth year in the College at the University of Chicago, studying Political Science. Her academic focus is on populism, particularly in Italy, about which she will be writing her bachelor’s thesis. Last summer and fall, she engaged in research about public health and immigration in major cities at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Meryl Seah
Intern
Meryl is an intern at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where she works on the Democratic Erosion Dataset, social media, and other research projects. She is a rising fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Chicago, majoring in mathematics and statistics. She is particularly interested in applying her quantitative knowledge to democratic research and other social science topics. In the past few years, she has participated in math research programs, tutored at Chicago public schools, and interned with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Carter Squires
Intern
Carter is an intern at the Chicago Center on Democracy, where his work focuses on understanding and categorizing the precursors, symptoms, and resistances associated with democratic backsliding globally. He is also working to assess backsliding at the state-level within the US. Carter is a third year in the College at the University of Chicago, studying Political Science. Outside of his academic interests, Carter leads UChicago’s top-ranked Model United Nations Team and works as a consultant for nonprofits on Chicago’s South Side.