Taeko Hiroi received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 2005 with a Certificate in Advanced Study on Latin American Social and Public Policy. Her research and teaching interests include democratic political institutions and political economy. Dr. Hiroi’s dissertation examined the impact of bicameralism on lawmaking in Brazil. Her dissertation field research in Brazil was supported by various grants and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation dissertation improvement grant and Andrew Mellon pre-doctoral fellowship. She was Visiting Scholar at the Federal University of Brasilia from February 2003 to June 2004. Dr. Hiroi's most recent publications appear in Studies in Comparative International Development, Comparative Political Studies, andThe Journal of Legislative Studies.  Dr. Hiroi is a co-advisor of the Pi Sigma Alpha Political Science Honor Society.