Lisa Blaydes is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Stanford University. Her work has appeared previously in International Organization, the Middle East Journal, World Politics and other journals. The dissertation on which this book is based received the 2009 Gabriel Almond Award for best dissertation in the field of comparative politics from the American Political Science Association. Blaydes received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2008. From 2008 to 2010 she was an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies.