Dr. Phillips’ research uses intersectional frameworks to understand how overlapping dimensions of identity inform democratic incorporation. She examines how individuals and groups—from everyday voters, to people thinking about running for office, to elected incumbents—make decisions, lead, and effect change. Her work is particularly attentive to the ways that political contexts and structures shape those processes.
Phillips’ scholarship is animated by the recognition that power is a central element in politics, and operates in distinct ways across the polity and our institutions.