David’s research seeks to explain how new democratic institutions contribute to democracy and development. His dissertation focuses on three related questions: under what circumstances are democratic innovations more democratic? Why do local governments decide to adopt democratic innovations? Under what circumstances should we expect these institutions to succeed in their goals related to economic development? David’s research focuses primarily on Brazilian cases; however, he has worked as a facilitator with several democratic innovations in the US, including the Massachusetts Citizen Initiative Review pilot project. His other research interests include modeling voter behavior based on gender and populist preferences, as well as cross-national aid and FDI investment. Prior to his PhD studies, David worked as a high school Spanish teacher and an adjunct Portuguese and Spanish instructor in New Orleans, as well as an ESL teacher in Nicaragua, Spain and Brazil