Political Science

Leah E. Gilbert

Assistant Professor of Political Science

J.R. Howard Hall

Leah Gilbert is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at Lewis and Clark College. Her research and teaching interests include democratization, civil society, regime theory, post-communist politics (with an emphasis on Russia), and European politics (with an emphasis on Germany). She speaks German and Russian and has conducted intensive fieldwork in both languages.

Gilbert, along with Payam Mohseni, is the author of an article that introduces a new conceptual map and taxonomy for hybrid regimes published by Studies in Comparative International Development (September 2011). An earlier version received recognition in the form of the Honorable Mention, Sage Paper Award for Best Qualitative Methods Paper Presented at the American Political Science Association, 2009. In addition, she has published several articles on the development and impact of civil society on democracy in Russia and Europe. Currently she is working on a project that explores states’ legal regulation of non-governmental organizations in hybrid regimes.

Teaching

Fall 2018

POLS 102 Introduction to Comparative Politics

Introduction to the central questions in comparative politics. Fundamental differences in the organization of states, democratic political institutions (presidentialism versus parliamentarianism, for example), and domestic social forces (for example, social capital, ethnic versus nonethnic identities). The impact of political organization on economic performance and social peace.

POLS 325 European Politics

This course addresses the many political challenges that face individual European countries and the European Union in the twenty-first century. To contextualize and understand these challenges, this course will first investigate Europe’s historical political development and then use a combination of in-depth case studies and comparative analyses to examine topics such as political parties, electoral systems, political participation, immigration, and post-communism. Throughout the course we will frequently compare the trajectory of Europe and individual European countries with the United States.