Lucy Right

I am a Postdoctoral Associate with the Leitner Program at Yale University, and a Fellow at the Cambodia Development Resource Institute's Center for Governance and Inclusive Societies. I received my PhD in Political Science from Duke University in 2025.

 

My research studies the effects of pluralism in local authoritarian institutions, with a particular focus on Cambodia. Drawing on an original survey of elected local leaders, qualitative fieldwork, and original observational data, my book project examines the emergence, form, and effects of opposition party representation in Cambodia's commune councils. Employing a mixed-methods approach, I first draw on rich interview data to trace how opposition politicians use their elected positions to influence local governance within the de jure and de facto constraints of an authoritarian state. I then examine the systematic effects of the opposition's attempts at influence, using a novel quasi-experimental design to estimate the causal effect of opposition representation on competitiveness in procurement for local development projects.

 

My research has been supported by the World Bank in Cambodia, the Southeast Asia Research Group (SEAREG), the Center for Khmer Studies, and Duke's Asian/Pacific Studies Institute, among others. In addition to my interest in pluralism and local governance, my research has also looked at civil society and foreign aid in repressive contexts.

 

Alongside my academic research, I have experience carrying out field research, program evaluation, survey design and analysis, and research reporting for development organizations including the World Bank, USAID, the OECD, and UNDP. I have designed and overseen implementation of more than a dozen household and leader surveys in countries including the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Ghana, Mali, and Cambodia.