Concentrating in comparative politics, I study decentralization, elections, corruption, and political behavior in Latin America.  Many of the themes comprising my research agenda are found in my dissertation in which I quantitatively assess the causes and consequences of subnational fragmentation – a process by which local communities fragment into two or more new communities – in Brazil. Interviews and archival research conducted during my six months in residence in Brazil as both a Tinker and Lemann Fellow supplement the quantitative research. I find that a combination of local grievances, state and local political alignments, and voters’ abilities to access relevant information about fragmentation differentiates municipalities that fragment from municipalities that do not fragment and that fragmentation helps underperforming municipalities to improve the quality of services that they provide to their constituents. The effect of fragmentation on political participation, by contrast, is underwhelming; fragmentation enhances turnout and the valid vote share in the first post-fragmentation election, but participation subsides in subsequent post-fragmentation elections.  These results suggest that decentralization and small local governments can live up to some of their promises, especially in the provision of public goods, and hold implications for political institutional design, public policy implementation, and development in developing countries.