Charlotte Heyl

Charlotte Heyl is a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and an Associate at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her work focuses on Democratization, Political Institutions, and the role of Constitutional Courts in electoral processes across Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

• PhD in Political Science, University of Duisburg-Essen
• M.A. in Political Science, Japanese Studies, and Geography, University of Trier

Her research examines how Presidential Term Limits function as democratic safeguards, analyzing their impact on Institutionalization, Democratization, and Autocratisation. She has led and co-authored studies on judicial independence, population growth-security linkages, and succession rules in presidential systems.

Recent publications highlight Comparative Institutional Analysis and Regional Political Dynamics, with longitudinal studies of term-limit reforms. She organizes academic events at GIGA and contributes to media commentary on African and Latin American politics.

Her affiliations include the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) as Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa. She has taught courses on Democracy Promotion and Peace & Conflict Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen.