Dissertations

APSA is pleased to include here the names of individuals who have completed their doctoral dissertations at political science departments in the United States during the 2016–2017 calendar year. In order to provide the most accurate information possible, this list is based on data reported directly from departments. Dissertations are listed by fields of interest as labeled by APSA: American politics, comparative politics, international relations, methodology, political philosophy and theory, public administration, public law and courts, and public policy. (See also, table 1.)

Table 1 Dissertations by Field of Interest

AMERICAN POLITICS

Nicolas Anspach: “The Facebook Effect: Political News in the Age of Social Media”; Temple University

Michael Armato: “Practicing Representation: The Impact of Electoral Competition on the Home Styles of US Representatives”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

LaShonda Brenson: “Where’s the Caucus? A Study of Minority Agenda Setting”; University of Michigan

Jennifer Brookhart: “Walk the Talk: Representational Rhetoric and Behavior in the US House”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Timothy Callaghan: “Appealing Politics? Using the Bully Pulpit to Change Opinions and Influence Policy”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Logan Casey: “The Politics of Disgust: Public Opinion Toward LGBTQ People and Policies”; University of Michigan

Dennis Dallaire: “Party Registration and Party Vote: The Relationship between Registration and Results in Massachusetts Elections”; Northeastern University

Bradley Dickerson: “Motivated Reasoning, Ambivalence, and the Local Economy: Asymmetric Biases in Formation of Economic Perceptions”; University of Mississippi

Jill Dunlap: “The Personal Is Suddenly Very Political: Legislative Efforts to Improve the Experiences of Campus Sexual Assault Survivors”; Northern Illinois University

Ashton Ellis: “Measuring the Disability Rights Framing Effects on Public Opinion About Assisted Suicide: Elite Interviews and an Experimental Survey”; Claremont Graduate University

Ashley English: “Implementing Intersectionality: Creating Women’s Interests in the Rulemaking Process”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Alex Garlick: “Interest Groups, Lobbying, and Polarization in the United States”; University of Pennsylvania

Kacee Garner: “Citizen Entrepreneur: Social Good and the Good Citizen”; Idaho State University

Kristin Garrett: “The Moralization of Politics: Causes, Consequences, and Measurement of Moral Conviction”; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Jeremy Gelman: “Why Bills Fail: Electioneering with the Legislative Agenda”; University of Michigan

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez: “Whose Bills? Corporate Interests and Conservative Mobilization Across the US States, 1973–2013”; Harvard University

Flavio Hickel, Jr.: “Seeking Legitimacy in the Past: Civil Religion and Ideological Conflict”; Rutgers University

Bai Linh Hoang: “Democratic Listening? Race and Representation in Local Politics”; University of Michigan

Kiku Huckle: “Es Su Casa Mi Casa? Latinos, Political Incorporation, and the American Catholic Church”; University of Washington

Joshua Jansa: “Laboratories of Inequality: The Politics of Economic Development Incentives and the Distribution of Resources in America”; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Bradley Jones: “The Building Blocks of Politics: How Pre-Political Dispositions Structure Conflict in the Contemporary United States”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Ashley Koning: “(Grand Old) Party Crashers: The Effects of Republican Atypical Issue Advocacy and Cross-Pressure Framing on Party Opinion Change”; Rutgers University

Michael Kowal: “The Social Corporation: Firms, Networks, and Politics”; University of Massachusetts Amherst

John Lovett: “Individual Members of Congress and Policy Change: The Use of Issue Salience as Subsidy”; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Maureen Lowry-Fritz: “Is Legal Action the Right ‘Idea’: An Examination of Client-Based Legal Action and its Effects on Organizational Responses to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)”; Northern Illinois University

Matthew Luttig: “The Rise of Partisan Rigidity: The Nature and Origins of Partisan Extremism in American Politics”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Matthew MacWilliams: “American Authoritarianism in Black and White”; University of Massachusetts Amherst

Elizabeth Mann: “Presidential Policymaking at the State Level: Revision through Waivers”; University of Michigan

Melissa Mouritsen: “Looking Inside the Black Box: Economic Development in Suburbia”; University of Illinois at Chicago

Zein Murib: “Brokering Identity: Exploring the Construction of LGBT Political Identity and Interests in US Politics, 1968–2001”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Abdol-Razagh Oskoolii: “Disentangling Discrimination: The Impact of Political and Societal Discrimination on Democratic (Dis)Engagement”; University of Washington

Jessuina Perez-Teran: “Partisan Preferences: The Enforcing and Crafting of Immigration Policy”; University of Michigan

Samantha Pettey: “Run, Women, Run! Female Candidates and Term Limits: A State-Level Analysis”; University of North Texas

Michael Pomante: “The Young American Voter”; Northern Illinois University

Thomas Pryor: “The Psychology of Legal Decision Making”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Michael Riley: “Constitutional Obedience vs. Unilateral-Executive Power: President Obama’s Responses to Chemical and Nuclear Weapons and ISIS”; Idaho State University

Meghan Rubado: “The Diffusion of Interlocal Cooperation in the United States”; Temple University

Benjamin Schneeer: “How Electoral Institutions Shape Citizen Participation and Legislative Behavior”; Harvard University

Carley Shinault: “When the Black Bourgeoisie Meets the Truly Disadvantaged: An Analysis of Black Middle-Class Responses to Low-Income Residential Mobility in Prince George’s County, Maryland”; Howard University

Maron Sorenson: “The Impact of Institutional Rules on the US Supreme Court”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Derek Stafford: “The Relationship Between Participation, Social Networks, and Cooperation: How Social Networks Influence Voter Turnout through Mobilization and how both Networks and Turnout are Related to Cooperation”; University of Michigan

James Sutherland: “Municipal Institutions, Electoral System Designs, and Voter Turnout in Large American Cities”; Northeastern University

Paul Testa: “The Politics of Race and the Criminal Justice System”; University of Illinois

Amanda Tillotson: “Risky Business: Race, Risk, and Real Estate in the Development of the Home Ownership State”; University of Michigan

Benjamin Toff: “The Blind Scorekeepers: Journalism, Polling, and the Battle to Define Public Opinion in American Politics”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Clifford Vickrey: “Seeking the Constituent Signal: Exit Poll Measures of Public Opinion and Dynamic Congressional Responsiveness”; University of Connecticut

Hannah Walker: “Mobilized by Injustice: Criminal Justice Contact, Political Participation, and Race”; University of Washington

Harold Watkins, Jr.: “Assessing the Legislative Agenda and Legislative Behavior of the Congressional Black Caucus from 1992–2012, the 102nd through the 112th Congresses”; Howard University

Ariel White: “Voter Behavior in the Wake of Punitive Policies”; Harvard University

COMPARATIVE POLITICS

Luai Allarakia: “Three Essays on the Dynamics of Legislatures in Monarchical Regimes: Kuwait’s National Assembly”; University of Houston

Ashley Anderson: “Going Political: Labor, Institutions, and Democratic Unrest in North Africa”; Harvard University

Sanja Badanjak: “Coping with Europe: Europeanization of Party Systems in European Democracies”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Osman Balkan: “Death on the Move: Burial, Repatriation, and the Politics of Belonging among Muslims in Germany”; University of Pennsylvania

Salil Benegal: “A Changing Climate in the Public Mind: How Do Economic Risk and Political Partisanship Affect How We Think about Climate Change?”; University of Connecticut

Noah Buckley: “Calculating Corruption: Political Competition and Bribery Under Autocracy”; Columbia University

Joan Cho: “The Dictator’s Modernity Dilemma: Theory and Evidence from South Korea”; Harvard University

Jean Clipperton: “Now or Later: Tradeoffs in Implementation of Directives Among European Union Member States”; University of Michigan

Anna Cotter: “The Politics of the Terrorist Watch List”; University of Michigan

Aditiya Dasgupta: “The Puzzle of Democratic Monopolies: Single Party Dominance and Decline in India”; Harvard University

Emmerich Davies: “Making Markets: The Political Causes and Consequences of Private Education in India”; University of Pennsylvania

Dominic Despaio: “Structuring Crisis: Bureaucratic Influence and Regulatory Distortion in China”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Yue Ding: “Invisible Sky, Visible State: Environmental Governance and Political Support in China”; Harvard University

Casey Ehrlich: “Grassroots Peace: Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Rural Columbia”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Aaron Erlich: “The Political Economy of Information Provision in Developing Democracies”; University of Washington

Paula Finch: “The Cycle of Violence Between Terrorism and Repression”; The University of Texas at Dallas

Roberto Foa: “Ancient Polities, Modern States”; Harvard University

Lynn Fredriksson: “Why Should You Recognize Us? Somaliland’s Pursuit of Recognition via Adherence to International Norms and Law”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Noam Gidron: “Many Ways to be Right: The Unbundling of European Mass Attitudes and Partisan Asymmetries across the Ideological Divide”; Harvard University

Shelby Grossman: “The Politics of Order in Informal Markets: Evidence from Lagos”; Harvard University

Hyeonho Hahm: “The Partisan Secret: Institutional Constraints on Policy Change and Partisanship”; University of Michigan

Luzia Helfer: “How Politics Becomes News and News Becomes Politics”; Leiden University

Bekele Bengessa Hirbe: “Intra-State Conflicts in the Horn of Africa and Their Implications for Regional Security”; Howard University

Hala Hweio: “Libyan Women and Revolution: A Study on the Changes of Women’s Political and Social Roles During and After the Libyan Revolution”; Northern Illinois University

Hiroki Kubo: “Organizing Parties in Legislatures: How Elections and Policy Positions Shape Intraparty Politics”; Rice University

Junghwa Lee: “A Study on the Party System in South Korea after Democratization”; University of Michigan

Na Youn Lee: “Understanding Interracial Closeness, Racial Policy Attitudes, and Children’s Academic Achievement through the Prism of Racial Frameworks”; University of Michigan

Yuting Li: “Housing Welfare State: The Political Economy of Social Housing Provision in China, Evidence from Chongqing and Shanghai”; University of Washington

Joseph Luna: “Political Finance in Developing States”; Harvard University

Khalid Madhi: “Back to the Medina: State, Citizenship, and Capital in Marrakesh”; University of Illinois at Chicago

Shahirah Mahmood: “Contextualizing the Global and Remaking the Local: Islam and Women’s Rights in Indonesia”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

John L. Marshall: “Information Consumption and Electoral Accountability in Mexico”; Harvard University

Danielle Martin: “Individual Risk Attitudes and Democratic Representation”; University of Michigan

Shaun McGirr: “Andrei Drives Bentley, Boris Drives Lada: Why Corrupt States Have Clean Agencies”; University of Michigan

Erin McGovern: “Dictators Who Dominate: Betraying Allies to Gain a Preponderance of Power”; University of Michigan

Amanda Meng: “The Social Impact of Open Government Data”; Georgia Institute of Technology

Bradley Murg: “Impetus or Impediment: Market Power, Foreign Direct Investment, and Judicial Reform in Russia and Kazakhstan”; University of Washington

Yunmin Nam: “Globalization, Welfare Policy, and Income Inequality in Developed Economies”; University of Connecticut

Noah Nathan: “Electoral Politics amid Africa’s Urban Transition: A Study of Urban Ghana”; Harvard University

Rodrigo Nunez Donoso: “Are Ethnically Heterogenous Cities More Democratic? Explaining the Subnational Component of Consociationalism in Post-Conflict Countries”; University of Houston

Paula Pineda: “Deconstructed Decentralization and Ethnic Conflict”; University of Houston

Amanda Pinkston: “Insider Democracy: Private Sector Weakness and the Closed Political Class in Democratic Africa”; Harvard University

Richard Potts: “Salt, Light, and Cocaine: Religious Civil Society and Narco-Violence in Mexico’s Border Region”; George Mason University

Taylor Price: “Uneasy Alliances: Traditional Leaders and the Promotion of Women’s Rights Policies in Namibia”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Elizabeth Rhodes: “The Micro-Dynamics of Health and Education Provision in the Slums of Nairobi”; University of Michigan

Mark R. Royce: “The Political Theology of European Integration”; George Mason University

Shin Kue Ryu: “Where is the Safe Water? Capturing the Missing Explanation in Inter-Country Variation in Access”; George Mason University

Turkhan Sadigov: “Modalities and Citizen Bribe Offers: The Case of Post-Soviet Corruption”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

Evann Smith: “Mass Mobilization in the Middle East: Form, Perception, and Language”; Harvard University

Elena Sokolova: “State Rsponse to the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Russia: Institutional Factors”; Temple University

Basak Taraktas: “Making Autocrats Accountable: Interests, Priorities, and Cooperation for Regime Change”; University of Pennsylvania

Charles Taylor: “Ethnic Politics and Campaign Strategies in Contemporary Africa: Evidence from Ghana and Kenya”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Hulya Unlusoy: “Do Parties Matter? A Political Model of Monetary Policy in Open Economies”; Western Michigan University

Cynthia Van Vonno: “Achieving Party Unity; A Sequential Approach to Why MPs Act in Concert”; Leiden University

Ana Weeks: “Identity and Policymaking: The Policy Impact of Gender Quota Laws”; Harvard University

Steven Wilson: “Information and Revolution”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Muhammad Ab dur-Rashid: “Partisanship and Military Intervention in Iraq: Muslim American Voters, Special Interest Groups, and Attitudes toward the Iraq War”; Howard University

Haitham Al-Mayahi: “Terrorism, Sectarianism, Corruption, and the Transition to Democracy in the Post-Saddam Hussein Era in Iraq”; Howard University

Robert Asaadi: “Colonies, Clients, and Rogues: Power and the Production of Order in International Politics”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Erin Baggott: “Four Essays in Computational Approaches to Autocratic Politics”; Harvard University

Eyal Bar: “‘Us Here, Them There’: The Politics of Recognition in Israel-Palestine”; Arizona State University

Mary Taylor Benjamin Britton: “The Politics of Humanitarian Disarmament: Civil Society and the Cluster Bomb Ban”; Temple University

Sema Binay: “Coloring the Lines through Culture? Race and Racialization in International Relations”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Jason Charrette: “A Difference that Makes a Difference: The Role of the United States in World Society”; University of Connecticut

Jessica Clayton: “Terms of Engagement: How Informational and Reputational Resources Motivate the Structure of IO-NGO Relationships”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Cosette Creamer: “Dilemmas of Delegation: The Politics of Authority in International Courts”; Harvard University

William d’Ambruoso: “The Persistence of Torture: Explaining Coercive Interrogation in America’s Small Wars”; University of Washington

Carine DeSy: “Media Sources Tell Stories to Frame Groups: A Study of Syrian Refugees in Quebec Analyzed by the Narrative Policy Framework”; Idaho State University

Gorana Draguljic: “The Politics of Choice and Institutional Development of Global Enfironmental Regimes”; Temple University

Kendr Dupy: “Harnessing Natural Resources for Development: New Legal Regimes for Localized Benefit Sharing in the Mining Sector”; University of Washington

Meltem Ersoy: “Political Crisis and Party Transformation: The Case of AKP in Turkey”; George Mason University

Lauren Farmer: “Bastions Against the Fourth Wave: Toward a Theory of Authoritarian Organizations”; Temple University

Kevin Generous: “Procuring Swords for Plowshares: Congressional Use of Strategic Weapons Acquisition to Influence US Arms Control Negotiations”; University of Connecticut

Michael Gill: “Empirical Essays on Secrecy and Security in the United States”; Harvard University

Mi Hwa Hong: “Crafting Reputation before Domestic and International Audiences: Autocratic Participation in the United Nations Human Rights Institutions”; University of Michigan

Casper Kamau: “National Level Tolerance for ‘Customary’ Neo-Autogenous Sub-Saharan (NAS) Law”; University of Texas at Dallas

Youcheer Kim: “Treaty Commitment and the Reconstruction of Social Relations among States”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy

Patrick Larue: “Investigating Transnational Terrorism: Three New Looks”; The University of Texas at Dallas

Rakeen Mabud: “Appreciating Housing: The Role of Housing in Politics”; Harvard University

Krishan Malhotra: “Voting for Victory: The Impact of Elections on Counterinsurgency Wars”; University of Pennsylvania

Gina Martinez: “Unraveling Red Tape: Foreign Aid Allocation and the Domestic Bureaucracy”; University of Illinois

Crystal Pryor: “Beyond Economics and Security: Strategic Export Control Policies in Advanced Countries”; University of Washington

Lindsay Reid: “Generating a Quality Peace: Negotiated Settlements and Governments’ Respect for Rights in the Wake of Civil War”; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Evangeline Reynolds: “Supranational Law and Compliance”; University of Illinois

Kurt Robertson: “The Social Construction of the HIV/AIDS Masculinity Syndrome and Its Role in Jamaican Politics and Culture from 1982–2013”; Howard University

Robert J. Schub: “Certainty and War”; Harvard University

Adrian Shin: “Primary Resources, Secondary Labor: Natural Resources and Immigration Policy around the World”; University of Michigan

Fanglu Sun: “Territorial Autonomy in the Shadow of Ethnic Rebellion”; Rice University

Burcu Ucaray-Mangitli: “A Bottom-Up Approach to International Cooperation: Econocrats’ Role in Compliance with IMF Agreements”; University of Illinois

Alper Yagci: “Managing the Agricultural Biotechnology Revolution: Responses to Transgenic Seeds in Developing Countries”; University of Massachusetts Amherst

Piotr Zagorowski: “From the Heavens to the Earth: An Empirical Analysis of Weather Variability and Civil Conflict”; Claremont Graduate University

Steve Zech: “Between Two Fires: Civilian Resistance during Internal Armed Conflict in Peru”; University of Washington

Emily Zerndt: “The House that Propaganda Built: Historicizing the Democracy Promotion Efforts and Measurement Tools of Freedom House”; Western Michigan University

METHODOLOGY

Sabine Freij: “A Perfect Storm: Refugees, Youth Bulge, and Crimes”; Claremont Graduate University

POILTICAL PHILOSOPHY & THEORY

Catherine Bartch: “For What Kind of Democracy Should We Educate: Examining the Potential of Education for a Participatory Democracy with a Case Study of an Urban, Experiential, First-Year Civic Engagement Course at Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA”; Temple University

Tim Beaumont: “Mill, Method, and the Art of Life”; Harvard University

Joshua Berkenpas: “The Behavioral Revolution in Contemporary Political Science: Narrative, Identity, Practice”; Western Michigan University

Vincent Commisso: “Dynamic Politics: Necessity, Founding, and (Re)Founding in Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

Greg Conti: “The Politics of Diversity in Nineteenth-Century Britain”; Harvard University

Melonas Desiree: “We Are Where We Stand: Space and the Politcal Identity”; Temple University

Jacob Eisler: “Personhood and the Law of Corruption in Federal Courts”; Harvard University

Rodney Gill: “A History of Overcoming: Nietzsche on the Religious and Moral Antecedents of Modern Liberalism”; University of North Texas

Bruce Hunt: “Desiring Immortality and Resisting the Regime in Political Liberalism”; University of Houston

Kevin Kearns: “Scripture for America: Scriptural Interpretation in John Locke’s ‘Paraphrase’”; University of North Texas

Rita Koganzon: “Fathers and Sovereigns: The Uses of Paternal Authority in Early Modern Thought”; Harvard University

Daniel Kuchler: “The Grammar of Politicization and Depoliticization: Arendt’s Republicanism and the Translation of Revolutionary Politics and Judgment into Political Institutions”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

Charles Lesch: “Deep Solidarity: Political Theology, Jewish Thought, and Liberal Commitment in a Secular Age”; Harvard University

Joe Muller: “Constructing Kallipolis: The Political Argument of Plato’s Socratic Dialogues”; Harvard University

Benjamin Peterson: “‘Worthy of a Certain Seriousness’: Games, Ludic Attention, and Political Life”; University of Michigan

Clyde Ray: “John Marshall’s Constitutionalism”; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

David Temin: “Remapping the World: Vine Deloria, Jr. and the Ends of Settler Sovereignty”; University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Bonnie Washick: “Strange Spaces and Stranger Sensibilities: Feminist Counter-Publicity in the Digital Age”; University of Michigan

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Benjamin Bingle: “A Matter of Size: Examining Representation and Responsiveness in State Legislatures and City Councils”; Northern Illinois Univeristy

Brett Doyle: “Beyond Ad Hoc: The Role of Inter-Organizational Collaboration in US Stabilization Efforts”; George Mason University

Kacee Garner: “Citizen Entrepreneur: Social Good and the Good Citizen”; Idaho State University

Eileen Setti: “The Ability to Build Absorptive Capacity in the Nonprofit Sector”; Northern Illinois Universtiy

PUBLIC LAW & COURTS

James Ben-Aaron: “Citation Networks, Linguistics-Based Cues, and Logic-Based Approaches to Understanding What Persuades a Judge to Forsake Bias”; University of Massachusetts Amherst

Mark Beougher: “Who Controls Immigration Judges? Towards a Multi-Institutional Model of Administration Judge Behavior”; Western Michigan University

Scott Harris: “Sociopolitical Influence on Federal District Court Judges’ Criminal Sentencing Behavior”; West Virginia University

Allen Linken: “Examining the Civil-Military Divide Through New (Institutional) Lenses: The Influence of the Supreme Court”; University of Massachusetts Amherst

Deron Marquez: “The Executive Branch and Indian Health Care”; Claremont Graduate University

Bennet Min: “How Attorneys Think: Political Giving in Judicial Elections as a Hiring Decision”; The University of Texas at Dallas

Robert Whitaker: “Freedom of a Speech: The Speeches of the Warren Court Justices and the Legitimacy of the Supreme Court”; Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy

Allyson Yankle: “Just Like Any Other Court: The European Court of Human Rights as a Political Institution”; University of Connecticut

PUBLIC POLICY

Jarvis Chen: “Charter Schools and Accountability: A Study of Market and Compliance Accountability by Charter Authorizers”; Northeastern University

Andrea Eckelman: “From Invisible to Visible: How Women Have Transformed Representation and Equity in the American States”; University of Houston

LaGina Gause: “The Advantage of Disadvantage: Legislative Responsiveness to Collective Action by the Politically Marginalized”; University of Michigan

Simon Haeder: “Does Policy Analysis Matter? The Role of Expertise in State Policymaking”; University of Wisconsin-Madison

Andrew Tuholski: “Understanding the Formation of American Mental Health Policy Preferences, 1952–1981”; Purdue University