I joined the University of Dundee as Lecturer in Politics in January 2013. Prior to taking up this position, I was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Mannheim (Germany). I have also provided research assistance on projects on human rights and democracy funded by International IDEA, the UNDP, UK Department for International Development, and FIDH.

I have a PhD in Government (University of Essex) in which I examined the effect of political participation, party fragmentation, and gender inclusion in the Indian regional units (called states) on public health expenditure by the regional governments. I also have an MA in Human Rights from the University of Essex during which time I commenced research on human rights measurement and human rights regimes.

Before coming to the UK, I was a research assistant at Lokniti, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (Delhi, India). I also have an MA in Politics from the University of Mumbai (India) and a BA in Political Science from Goa University (India).
I coordinate the annual Human Rights Film Series begun in the spring of 2013. Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HumanRightsFilmSeries

My research interests extend to three areas -- human rights, democratic consolidation, and political behaviour, focussing on India and the UK. My work on human rights has examined issues related to human rights measurement and protection. Prof. Todd Landman (University of Essex) and I co-authored Measuring Human Rights (Routledge, 2010), which examines the empirical concept of human rights and the strengths and pitfalls in measuring this concept. This research has consequences for explanations and predictions of state behaviour.

I am working on studies that assess the effect of state policies and international organisations on human rights protection. Dr.  Laura Seelkopf (EUI) and I are working on foreign aid and human rights. One of our papers assesses whether the human rights records of donor countries alter how they view the human rights records of recipient countries. We examine whether these two factors interact with each other and affect the decision of donors to commit foreign aid.

My research interests also extend to comparative politics with a specialization in Indian and British politics. I have collaborated with Prof. Landman on the fourth edition of his textbook Issues and Methods in Comparative Politics (Routledge, 2016). Dr. Kristi Winters (GESIS, Cologne), Dr. Thom Oliver (UWE Bristol) and I are working on Dr Winters' pioneering Qualitative Election Study of Britain (QESB), which is the world's first longitudinal qualitative election study dataset. The project has run rounds of focus groups during the 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2017 UK General Elections, the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum, and interviews after the 2016 EU Referendum. Our research uncovers the variety of ways in which partisanship and personal identity affect popular perceptions of the three main British party leaders. We have published in Parliamentary Affairs (2015) on  the reasons why Cleggmania failed to deliver a substantial increase in votes and seats for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 general election and  the methodological aspects of engaging in qualitative electoral research. We are currently examining popular attitudes towards devolution in Scotland, Wales, and England. My doctoral thesis on India's political system evaluated the effect of political participation, gender inclusion, and party fragmentation on public health spending in the Indian states from 1971-2007. 

Undergraduate Modules

• Level 1: Globalizing World (co-teaching)
• Level 2: International Relations (co-teaching)
• Level 3: Studying Human Rights
• Level 3: European Union Politics and Simulation (Convenor and co-teaching)
• Level 4: Human Rights Advocacy: Theory and Praxis

Postgraduate

• Human Rights in International Relations (Convenor and co-teaching)
• International Relations (co-teaching)
• International Security (co-teaching)

Suggested areas for Postgraduate Supervision

I would welcome enquiries from potential research students interested in democratic transition and consolidation, human rights, qualitative electoral research, and Indian politics.

Research themes could include:

• Human rights: normative and measurement issues; children’s rights; the right to health; state compliance; foreign aid; accountability and transitional justice; conceptions of non-state actors.
• Democratic consolidation: institutional performance; political communication and vote choice using qualitative methods.
• Politics in India: Indian foreign policy, comparative political economy of the Indian states, institutional design and performance.