I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Emory University.  My subfield is International Relations, and my research and teaching interests include international human rights institutions, law, and practice; international governance and legal institutions; international conflict and security; and political methodology.  My methodological training includes quantitative and qualitative methods and game theory.  I have completed coursework and comprehensive exams in international conflict and security, international political economy, and formal and quantitative methods.

In my dissertation, I use formal theory and quantitative analysis to address the question, under what conditions will the state violate the human rights of its citizens? To answer this question, I first develop a theory to understand the choice to repress absent any institutional constraint.  I develop a formal baseline model of strategic repression and dissent over a policy allocation in the context of executive political survival. I then extend this model to determine how the relationship between repression and dissent changes with the introduction of an institution that varies in its ability to enforce its rulings.  I use quantitative analysis on an international dataset to test the empirical implications of the theoretical models.

Other research focuses on the effects of international and domestic institutions on human rights laws and practices, national implementation of international law, and the design of judicial institutions as related to its consequences.  Please see the research page for more information on current and future projects.  Also see the teaching page for information about my teaching experience.  Please contact me at emily.ritter@emory.edu for additional materials, samples, or any other information.