[3] She conducted research for many years on the procedures for replacing presidents who were no longer able to perform their responsibilities.
The book studied the 1928 United States presidential election, focusing in particular on the question of why Al Smith suffered such a lopsided defeat, and examining the extent to which it was due to prejudice against his Catholicism.
[6] The book was particularly noted for its use of multivariable regressions to analyze elections, which was then a new application of a methodology that had been made possible by recent advancements in computing.
[6] Other work by Silva concerned political systems in the United States, including voting procedures and institutions like presidential primaries.
[7][8] In 1960, Silva prepared the report Legislative Apportionment for the New York State Temporary Commission on Revision and Simplification of the Constitution.