Amanda Gouws is Professor of Political Science and holds a PhD from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign in the USA. Her fields of specialisation are South African Politics and Gender Politics and Political Behavior. Her co-authored book with James Gibson from Washington University St Louis, Overcoming Intolerance in South Africa: Experiments in Democratic Persuasion (Cambridge University Press, 2003) was awarded the Alexander George Book Award for best book in Political Psychology in 2003. In 2004 she received the Rector’s Award for Excellence in Research. She has published widely on issues in South African Politics and Gender Politics. In 2012 she received the award for Distinguished Women in Science from the Department of Science and Technology. She is a member of the Association of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAF). She was a Commissioner with the South African Commission for Gender Equality until June 2014.