Leslie Anderson, a University of Florida Research Foundation professor of political science, has been awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to support her research of democratic enclaves in Nicaragua and the “politics of resistance.”

Her primary research focuses on the development of democracy — how and why it develops and why it fails or breaks down, and it includes the study of electoral politics, both left and right social movements, and democratic values.

The award is part of $16.3 million the NEH recently presented to support humanities research and programs. Included in this year’s grants were NEH awards to 34 organizations that provide cultural programming to underserved groups, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, Minnesota Public Radio, and Massachusetts College of Art.