Kal Demerew, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Political Science
Office: Old Main 404B
Email: kdemerew@wtamu.edu
Phone: 806-651-2518
Website: https://kdemerew.com
Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/kaldemerew
Professional Profile
Dr. Demerew is Assistant Professor of Political Science at West Texas A&M University and a 2025-26 James Buchanan Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. His research focuses on the comparative political economy of development and conflict. He has received several academic honors and over $50,000 of external research grants from institutions such as the Center for Governance and Markets and the Institute for Humane Studies in support of his extensive fieldwork in East Africa.
Teaching and Related Service
Dr. Demerew’s primary teaching role at WT is the core course in American Government. His teaching interests encompass introductory and advanced courses in Comparative Politics and International Relations, including Middle Eastern Politics, African Politics, and International Conflict.
Research and Creative Activity
Dr. Demerew’s research examines the institutional foundations of state-building and development, as well as the external constraints on state agency in Africa and the broader developing world. He was the co-editor of Nile Basin Politics (Edward Elgar), and his work has appeared in leading journals including The Journal of Institutional Economics, Nations and Nationalism, and Third World Quarterly. He is currently pursuing two sole-authored book projects: Violence, Elites, and Institutions (under contract with SUNY Press) and Economic Freedom and Self-Governance in Africa (under contract with Routledge). Collectively, his books engage with debates on the roles of elite-driven and bottom-up structural transformation, the feasibility of liberalism in African state-building, and the limitations on state sovereignty in what is often referred to as the Global South.