Dyuti Saunik

Dyuti Saunik is a Visiting Lecturer at ISM and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia (UVA). Their research focuses on the interplay between elected politicians and appointed bureaucrats, political parties, elections, and electoral alliances in developing democracies, particularly India. They explore how urban governance dynamics emerge from the career incentives of political and bureaucratic actors.

Education includes a BA (magna cum laude) and MA in International Affairs from The George Washington University, with coursework in maritime security. Born in India and raised in post-war Kosovo, Saunik is a native Hindi speaker and fluent in Albanian, Turkish, and is learning French, Spanish, and Italian. Their teaching expertise spans political behavior, civil society, welfare state dynamics, and democracy in developing contexts.

Research interests include bureaucracy reform, electoral alliance formation, conflict resolution, and security studies. Current dissertation work examines governance disparities in developing democracies beyond conventional explanations of clientelism and institutional underinvestment.

No scientific awards or grants are explicitly listed in the provided information.