David Dow

David Dow is an Assistant Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School. His research focuses on post-conflict reconstruction, policing in developing nations, and political violence in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. He holds a PhD in Political Science from UC Berkeley and a BA from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Dow's work explores governance challenges in fragile states, including state-building mechanisms, deportation reintegration dynamics, and policing institution design. His research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense’s Minerva Initiative, USAID, and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL). Prior to NPS, he held positions at the University of Arizona and Duke University.

His research themes include:

• Post-conflict governance and public goods provision
• Policing effectiveness in transitional states
• Deportee reintegration and migration patterns
• Authoritarian regime dynamics and civic engagement

Recent work examines how post-conflict governments balance political consolidation with insurgency prevention, drawing on case studies from Uganda, Guatemala, and Ethiopia.

His academic outputs combine field experiments with comparative analysis, addressing topics like:

• Civilian cooperation with security forces
• Loss aversion in territorial disputes
• Extortion dynamics among deportees
• Covid-19 pandemic impacts on policing trust