My current research lies at the intersection of the politics of natural resource abundance (and oil specifically), authoritarian politics, and the political determinants of economic development. Please contact me for further information on published or forthcoming work.
If you do not have institutional access to any of these journals, please email me (fails@oakland.edu) and I will be happy to provide a PDF copy of any article.
Fails, Matthew D., and Taylor Richardson.* forthcoming. “Economic Performance and the Type and Method of Presidential Term Limit Evasion.” Democratization. Publisher website here. Version accepted for publication available here.
* = undergraduate student
Fails, Matthew D. 2025. “Pain at the Pump, Pain at the Polls? Global Evidence on Election Timing, State Capacity, and Gasoline Prices.” Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy 6 (1): 1-25. Publisher website here. Version accepted for publication available here, and related appendix.
Fails, Matthew D. 2022. "What Types of Political Regimes Subsidize Fuel Consumption?" The Extractive Industries and Society. PDF. Publisher website here.
Bellinger, Nisha, and Matthew D. Fails. 2020. “When Does Oil Harm Child Mortality?” Political Research Quarterly, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1065912920931201. PDF
Fails, Matthew D. 2019. “Oil Income and the Personalization of Autocratic Politics.” Political Science Research and Methods, https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2019.14. Pre-publication version here. PDF.
Fails, Matthew D. 2019. “Fuel Subsidies Limit Democratization: Evidence from a Global Sample, 1990-2014.” International Studies Quarterly 63 (2): 354-363. Pre-publication version here. Published PDF.
Fails, Matthew D., and Marc D. DuBuis.* 2015. “Rents, Resource Diversification, and the Collapse of Autocratic Regimes.” Political Research Quarterly 68 (4): 703-715. Paper
* = undergraduate student
Fails, Matthew D., and Douglas Carr. 2018. “When Do Natural Resources Harm Fiscal Health? Evidence from the United States.” (with Douglas Carr). Politics & Policy 46(6): 878-911. Paper available here.
Eldredge, Cody, and Matthew D. Fails. 2023. "When Do Autocrats Create Sovereign Wealth Funds?" Political Research Quarterly 76 (2): 869-881. Paper available here or here.
Fails, Matthew D. 2020. “Are Electoral Autocracies Better for the Poor? Evidence from Social Assistance Programs.” Research & Politics. Paper here.
Fails, Matthew D., and Byungwon Woo. 2015. “Unpacking Autocracy: Political Regimes and IMF Program Participation.” International Interactions 41: 110–132. Paper here.
Fails, Matthew D. 2012. “Inequality, Institutions, and the Risks to Foreign Investment.” International Studies Quarterly 54 (3): 516-529. Paper
Fails, Matthew D. 2014. “Leader Turnover, Volatility, and Political Risk.” Politics & Policy 42 (3): 369-399. Paper here.
Fails, Matthew D., and Jonathan Krieckhaus. 2010. “Colonialism, Property Rights, and the Modern World Income Distribution.” British Journal of Political Science 40 (3): 487-508. Paper
Fails, Matthew D., and Jonathan Krieckhaus. 2014. “Colonialism and Democratization.” American Political Science Association – Comparative Democratization Newsletter 12(1): 1, 3-6. The full issue is available here. The full bibliography for our essay is available here.
Fails, Matthew D., and Heather Nicole Pierce. 2010. “Changing Mass Attitudes and Democratic Deepening.” Political Research Quarterly 63 (1): 174-187. Paper here.
Fails, Matthew D. 2009. “Does Substantive Democratization Create More Committed Democrats? Surprising Evidence from Africa.” Democratization 16 (5): 841-866. Paper here.
Parke, Dana*, and Matthew D. Fails. 2014. “The Logic of External Reform Resistance: Attitudes toward Economic and Political Liberalization in Senegal.” Journal of Developing Societies 30(2): 145-167. Paper here.
* = undergraduate student