Stephen Orvis is professor of government and Associate Dean of Students for Academics at Hamilton College. He is a specialist on sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya in particular), identity politics, democratic transitions, and the political economy of development. He has taught introduction to comparative politics for 25 years, as well as courses on African politics, nationalism and the politics of identity, political economy of development, and weak states. He has written a book and articles on agricultural development in Kenya, has written several articles on civil society in Africa and Kenya, and is currently doing research on political institutions in Africa.