Beginning Fall 2026, I will be an Associate Professor in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. Before coming to UT Austin, I held positions in Department of Political Science at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the Hamilton School at the University of Florida. I hold a Ph.D. in Government from Georgetown University and an M.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College Annapolis. 
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My research is in the history of liberalism (French & Anglo-American), democracy, citizenship and the franchise, the history of political economy, and 'the social question.' My book, Democracy Tamed: French Liberalism and the Politics of Suffrage (OUP 2024) was awarded the 2025 Catherine and Michael Zuckert Book Award from the Association for the History of Political Thought. You can listen to conversations about the book on The Political Theory Review, The Review of Democracy, and the New Books Network podcasts.

I'm currently working on a monograph titled Tocqueville and the Crises of Democracy that explores receptions and interpretations of Alexis de Tocqueville's work in the late 19th and 20th centuries in France, Britain, and the US. I'm also writing articles on the meaning of aristocracy in the 19th century and on debates over the franchise in the American Founding. 

You can contact me at gianna.englert at austin dot utexas dot edu.