Erica De Bruin

Erica De Bruin's research focuses on civil-military relations,  policing, civil war, and democratic backsliding. She is the author of How to Prevent Coups d’état: Counterbalancing and Regime Survival (Cornell University Press, 2020). Her work has been published in journals including the American Political Science Review, Armed Forces & Society, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, PS: Political Science & Politics, and Foreign Affairs, and featured in media outlets including the New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Vox, Slate, MSNBC, and Bloomberg. At Hamilton, she directs the Policing Lab at the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center. She is currently working on projects on democratic backsliding in the U.S. and elsewhere, the causes and consequences of global police militarization, and attitudes towards domestic military use, which have been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 2014. She maintains her own professional website.

Recent Courses Taught

International Security
Nuclear Politics
Civil War
Civil-Military Relations
Introduction to International Relations
The Politics of Policing

Appointed to the Faculty

Educational Background

Ph.D., Yale University
M.Phil., Yale University
M.A., Yale University 
B.A. Columbia University