Leonardo R. Arriola is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. His research has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and World Politics. He is author of Multiethnic Coalitions in Africa (Cambridge University Press), which received a best book award from APSA's African Politics section and an honorable mention for the Gregory Luebbert Prize from
APSA's Comparative Politics section. He is co-editor of Africa Spectrum, an interdisciplinary journal of African studies, and an elected member of the board of directors of the African Studies Association (ASA).
Martha Johnson received her PhD in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. She current serves as Department Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at Mills College. Her research examines the politics of bureaucratic capacity in Africa, as well as women in politics, with a geographical focus on Francophone states. A former Fulbright scholar, she has conducted research in and written on Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Benin. Her work has been published in American
Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Africa Today, Journal of Modern African Studies, Development Policy Review, and Development and Change.
Melanie L. Phillips is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on the intra-party dynamics of candidate selection in new democracies where political parties control selection. She holds a Master's in Political Science from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from the University of California, San Diego, where she was a McNair Scholar. Her dissertation research has been funded by the National
Science Foundation as well as the Institute of International Studies and the Center for African Studies at UC Berkeley.