Melanie Phillips

Melanie Phillips is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She maintains an active research profile with office location in Barrows Hall 394 and professional presence through her institutional email and personal website.

Her research agenda centers on political dynamics in emerging democracies, with particular focus on:

• Intra-party candidate selection processes
• Gatekeeper influence on political nominations
• Women's political representation in sub-Saharan Africa
• Field research methodologies in African political contexts

Dr. Phillips has conducted multiple rounds of fieldwork in Zambia to investigate how political parties control candidate selection and how this affects women's electoral opportunities. Her work bridges theoretical political science with empirical research in understudied democratic contexts.