Dr. Stephanie L. McNulty

I am an author and scholar with with expertise in participatory democracy, local governance, decentralization, global democratization, and development. I hold the The Honorable John C. and Katherine Kunkel endowed chair in the Government department at Franklin and Marshall College, and teach courses on democracy, Latin American politics, and development.

My current project explores the spread of participatory democracy, arguing that mainstream media is misrepresenting the state of democracy around the world. This is partly due to a longstanding bias toward the European experience with democracy, which has erased many experiences and ideas about civic engagement. The project demonstrates that the “state of democracy” is more nuanced than we think. It links historical experiments with participatory democracy, such as the Haudenosaunee, Greek city-states, and Andean governance structures, to more current-day institutions, such as NYC’s Civic Engagement Office, Vermont’s town meetings, and the Bolivian local participatory planning tradition.

My forthcoming book explores participatory governance and citizen engagement in the Americas. The Power and Perils of Participatory Democracy: Participatory Budgeting and Democracy in Peru (2026, Oxford University Press) explores the effects of participatory governance on democratic governance in Peru, and is co-authored with Jared Abbott. The book extends our article, Technocracy for the People? The Impact of Government Imposed Democratic Innovations on Governance and Citizen Well-being (co-authored with Jared Abbott and Kate McKiernan), which finds that Peru’s participatory budgeting process improves support for democracy, increases pro-poor spending, and improves citizen’s quality of life. It is the first study to document the positive outcomes due to participatory budgeting beyond Brazil.

I have worked, lived, and conducted extensive fieldwork in Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru; I have a Ph.D. in Political Science from The George Washington University and a M.A. in Political Science from New York University. I often work as an independent consultant and lead evaluations and assessments for international organizations projects, which allows me to explore the applied aspects of my research.

I am also a member of the Par-City research network, which seeks to explore whether cities are responding to the global challenges of democracy, governance and trust. Our research team is documenting New York City’s participatory ecosystem, which includes the People’s Money, the Civic Engagement Commission and the grassroots efforts of organizations like the People’s Plan. More information is here.

I am the author of three additional books about participatory governance. Participatory Budgeting in Global Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2021) provides a theoretical and empirical explanation to account for widespread variation in the adoption, adaptation, and impacts of participatory planning in local governments. Democracy from Above? (Stanford University Press, 2019) explores the effect of nationally mandated participatory reforms in the developing world. Democracy from Above? specifically asks whether the reforms effectively redress the persistent problems of discrimination, elite capture, clientelism, and corruption in the countries that adopt them. As officials and reformers around the world look to strengthen citizen involvement and confidence in the political process, this book provides a clear understanding of the possibilities and limitations of nationally mandated participatory reforms. To compliment this book project, I co-authored the People Powered report, Participatory Budgeting via National Law: What Works and What Doesn’t. Finally, Voice and Vote: Decentralization and Participation in Post-Fujimori Peru (Stanford University Press, 2011) explores the origin and implementation of a Peruvian decentralization reform that is considered to be one of the most participatory in Latin America. Because of my extensive research on Peruvian politics, I am often asked to speak about politics in this country.

My research has also been published in Comparative Political Studies, Latin American Politics and Society, the Journal of Development Studies, American Behavioralist Scientist, and the Journal of Public Deliberation, among other scholarly outlets.