Julie Anne Weaver is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and a Lecturer on Social Studies and Government at Harvard University.  She defended her dissertation in June 2020 in Harvard’s Government Department.   

She studies comparative politics and the political economy of development, with a focus on local-level political accountability in developing countries, particularly in Latin America.  Her dissertation and book project examines how voters hold their elected officials accountable in contexts where institutions and political parties are weak, and uses an original survey, experimental, qualitative and quantitative data, and text analysis.  A single-authored article based on her dissertation is forthcoming at the Journal of Politics. 

Prior to her PhD studies, Julie worked in the field of international development, beginning her career in Sub-Saharan Africa, including in Rwanda, Mali and Zambia, and then more recently in Latin America.  In addition to her doctoral degree, she holds a B.A. in Sociology from Barnard College and an M.A. in International Development and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).