Patricia Posey is a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania where she specializes in American Politics and is a prestigious Fontaine Fellow. She has been recognized as an American Political Science Association Ralph Bunche Scholar and American Political Science Association Minority Fellow.  Patricia’s dissertation examines how financial services such as check-cashings, auto title loans, pawn loans, and payday loans (collectively known as the fringe economy) influence the political participation and attitudes of fringe economy users who are low-income, disproportionately racial and ethnic minorities. Her dissertation is supported by the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, the Urban Politics Section’s Byran Jackson Dissertation Research on Minority Politics Award, the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences’ Teece Fellowship, and the Department of Political Science.Her research interests include urban political economy, federalism, political behavior, racial & ethnic politics, and research methods. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post Monkey Cage and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Politics of Color.