Biography
Susan Stokes is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Chicago Center on Democracy.
Her research interests include democratic theory and how democracy functions in developing societies; distributive politics; and comparative political behavior. Dr. Stokes’ articles have appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, World Politics, and the Latin American Research Review. She teaches courses on political development, political parties and democracy, comparative political behavior, and distributive politics.
Her single and co-authored books include Mandates and Democracy: Neoliberalism by Surprise in Latin America (2001), Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics (2013), Why Bother? Rethinking Participation in Elections and Protests (2019), and The Backsliders: Why Leaders Undermine Their Own Democracies (2025).
She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.