Rate My Professor Lydia Tiede

Lydia Tiede is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Houston, where she joined as an Assistant Professor in 2008 and advanced through the ranks. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (2008), an MA in Latin American Studies from UC San Diego (2002), a JD from American University Washington College of Law (1991), and a BA in History and French from the University of Michigan (1987). Before entering academia, Tiede practiced law extensively in San Diego, serving as Deputy City Attorney prosecuting misdemeanor cases (1991-1993), associate at Detisch and Christensen managing litigation (1993-1995, 1997-1999), associate at Casa Cornelia Law Center handling immigration cases (1999-2001), and in private practice representing immigrants and criminal defendants (2001-2004). She also worked as a rule of law liaison for the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative in Skopje in the mid-1990s and as a legal intern with the U.S. Judge Advocate General's Corps in Germany (1990).

Tiede's research focuses on judicial politics, comparative courts and law, judicial and legal reform, high courts predominantly in Latin America and Eastern Europe, rule of law, judicial independence, and democratic backsliding. She authored the book Judicial Vetoes: Decision-Making on Mixed Selection Constitutional Courts (Cambridge University Press, 2022). Key publications include "The Rule of Law and Economic Development" (with Stephan Haggard and Andrew MacIntyre, Annual Review of Political Science, 2008), "The Rule of Law and Economic Growth: Where Are We?" (with Stephan Haggard, World Development, 2011), "Judicial Review of the Chilean Constitutional Tribunal" (with Royce Carroll, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2011), and recent articles such as "Law Enforcement and Legal Professionals’ Trust in Algorithms" (2025) and "Signed, Sealed, Counted? An Experimental Study of Mail-in Ballot Signature Verification" (2025). Her scholarship has garnered nearly 1,900 citations. Tiede has received the National Institute of Justice Graduate Research Fellowship (2007), National Science Foundation grant as co-PI (CCF 2131504 for Community Responsive Algorithms for Social Accountability), multiple University of Houston research grants including a New Research Grant (2012), and State Bar of California Wiley W. Manuel Awards for pro bono services (2000, 1997). She serves as affiliated faculty at the University of Houston Law Center, pre-law advisor, and provided commentary to Chile's Senate Sub-commission of Experts on constitutional court reforms (2023).