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Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University

I am a PhD candidate in Political Science at Harvard University, specializing in comparative politics and historical political economy. My research focuses on authoritarianism, institutions, political violence, and long-run development.

My dissertation examines how succession institutions and succession conflicts in pre-modern monarchies shaped state capacity and political authority over the long run. Drawing on original historical data from monarchic regimes across Europe, Asia, and MENA, I show how succession rules affected the risk of violent conflict—and how recurring succession crises disrupted bureaucratic and fiscal development, constrained states’ ability to wage war, and left lasting institutional legacies.

In other work, I study military coups in Thailand and the political legacies of Reconstruction in the U.S. South. Across these projects, I combine historical data collection, quantitative analysis, and case-based methods to examine how elite conflict and institutional design shape political development over time and space.

I am affiliated with the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies (CES) and the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS).

Outside of research, I am a competitive powerlifter who enjoys traveling, hiking, and trying new food.

Contact me at dlowery@g.harvard.edu