About Me

Andrea Silva is a researcher and educator who analyzes how immigration, race policies in the United States influence social inclusion, political participation, and community well-being. She is an Associate Professor of Teaching in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside. Her research examines how immigration, race, and public institutions shape notions of belonging, legal status, and access in American society. Her current research agenda investigates how state and local governments structure food environments for immigrants and people of color. Specifically, how do state food policy designs affect access to social programs, and how do state food policies reflect and reinforce broader patterns of inequality?

She is the author of Direct Democracy Rules: The Effect of Propositions, Initiatives, and Referendums on State Immigration Legislation in the 21^st Century (NYU Press, forthcoming) and coauthor of The Presidency and Immigration Policy: Rhetoric and Reality with Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha and Eric Gonzalez Juenke (Routledge, 2023). Her scholarship has appeared in leading journals, including Political Research Quarterly, Publius, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and Social Science Quarterly. She is also a frequent contributor to public-facing outlets, including Texas Public Radio, PBS Socal, and Good Authority, formerly The Monkey Cage.

Silva has received support from the National Science Foundation for her work on state food policy and immigrant food environments, a project that was disrupted by funding cuts under the Trump administration but continues to inform her current research agenda. Her work has been recognized with awards from professional associations such as the Western Political Science Association, and she regularly presents at national conferences.

At UC Riverside, Silva teaches courses in American politics, race and politics, race and economic policy, and immigration policy. She is committed to connecting academic inquiry with the pressing questions communities are living with every day, incorporating engaged scholarship and public service into her teaching. Before joining UCR, she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas, where she also served as Associate Director of the Latino and Mexican American Studies Program.

In addition to her research and teaching, Silva has served on several award committees, co-organized professionalization workshops for Women of Color in Political Science (WCPS), and the Politics of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Consortium (PRIEC). She has also partnered with community organizations working on food access and immigrant rights. Her interdisciplinary approach and commitment to public engagement make her work relevant to both academic and non-academic audiences.