Elaine Yao is broadly interested in formal theory and comparative politics. Her current research focuses on the dynamics of group decision-making in weakly institutionalized settings, and seeks to elucidate how the decision-making process itself — the time spent on deliberation, enforcing group discipline, and testing courses of action — can shape the outcomes of coordination and collective action. She also maintains an interest in Chinese politics and authoritarian politics. Her work has appeared in Comparative Political Studies and Chinese Sociological Review. She is currently a PhD candidate in Politics at Princeton University.