Political Science

Seulki Lee-Geiller

Associate Research Scientist

Seulki Lee-Geiller is an Associate Research Scientist at Yale University’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies, focusing on Democratic Innovations. Her interdisciplinary work combines political science, public policy, and technology, aimed at addressing rapidly evolving societal challenges from a governance perspective. She has explored the effects of technology on citizen-government interactions and is currently researching open government policies, delving into their nature, the dynamics of global policy transfer, and the driving forces of this trend.

Paul Lendway

Paul Lendway is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in political science at Yale University studying inequality, populism, and social movements. His first dissertation paper (R&R at Political Behavior) posits and tests a theoretical framework for how populist appeals increase mass support for democratic erosion. His research has been published at American Politics Research, Environmental Politics, and the Yale Journal of International Affairs.

Zhouyan Liu

ISPS Graduate Policy Fellow 2025

Zhouyan Liu is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science. His research interests include authoritarian politics and historical political economy. He is currently working on a project concerning diasporas from authoritarian countries and the political consequences of migration in both sending and receiving countries, with a particular focus on China as an empirical case. Prior to attending Yale, he worked as an investigative journalist for four years at one of China’s largest news magazines, Sanlian Life Weekly. He received his B.A. from Peking University and M.P.P.

Mackenzie Lockhart

Postdoctoral Associate

Mackenzie Lockhart is a Postdoctoral Associate with the Democratic Innovations program at Yale’s Institution for Social and Policy Studies. He received a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego in 2023. His research focuses on elections, representation, and public opinion with particular focus on how voters behave in American elections and consequences for representation.

Isabela Mares

Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science

Isabela Mares is the Arnold Wolfers Professor of Political Science and the Director of the European Union Center at Yale. She specializes in the comparative politics of Europe. Professor Mares has written extensively on labor market and social policy reforms, the political economy of taxation, electoral clientelism, reforms limiting electoral corruption. Her current research examines the political responses to antiparliamentarism in both contemporary and historical settings.

Carolina Marques de Mesquita

ISPS Graduate Policy Fellow 2025

Carolina is a third year PhD student in the Department of Political Science. Her research explores environmental politics, social movements, and political culture with a focus on the US and Brazil. Through the ISPS Graduate Policy Fellowship, she will investigate the rise of youth-led climate change litigation. Prior to attending Yale, Carolina worked in the nonprofit sector and taught English through the Fulbright US Student Program in Portugal.

David Mayhew

Sterling Professor of Political Science, Emeritus

David Mayhew is Sterling Professor Emeritus of Political Science.

Mellissa Meisels

Postdoctoral Associate

Mellissa Meisels is a postdoctoral associate in ISPS’s Center for the Study of American Politics. In 2025, she will join Yale’s Department of Political Science as an assistant professor. She earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, where she was affiliated with the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. Previously, she was a Democracy Center Visiting Scholar at the University of Rochester and earned her B.A.

Araya Miller

ISPS Director's Fellow 2025

Araya Miller is a junior at Yale College majoring in Political Science and pursuing an Education Studies Certificate. She is passionate about working directly with communities to develop innovative ways to reform the criminal legal system and reduce mass incarceration in America. She views quality education as a potential solution to various social inequalities and has made strides to make education more accessible to marginalized communities.

Deewa Rahim

ISPS Director's Fellow 2025

Deewa Rahim is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College majoring in Political Science and pursuing a certificate in Persian and Iranian Studies. Her interests include immigration policy, education policy, and the intersection between the two. Since moving to New Haven, she’s been involved with the IRIS Youth Leadership Program and is passionate about serving the immigrant community. On campus, Deewa is actively involved in the Yale International Relations Association and works at the Middle Eastern & North African Cultural Community.