Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Jessie's research interests include political economy of development, policing, crime, corruption, and clientelism. Her book project, Machine Gun Politics: Why Politicians Cooperate with Organized Crime, explains why politicians and criminal organizations cooperate peacefully, drawing from a mixed-methods study of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her scholarship has won awards at the American Political Science Association (APSA), Latin American Studies Association (LASA), and Public Choice Society, and has been published in World Development and Economia. Jessie's research has been generously supported by the Corporación Andino de Fomiento (CAF),  Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), Harvard Brazil Cities Initiative, and the Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative (FHB). Jessie received her PhD from the Department of Government at Harvard University in 2022 and will begin a position as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in 2023.