Recent Dissertations

We are proud of our graduate students' research.

Accorsi Amaral, Pedro
"A 'See You Soon' To Arms: A Study on Post-War Military Reforms"
Advisor: Tanisha Fazal

Eichinger, Aphisith
"Fact, Fiction, or Fragile: The Globalization and Populism Hypothesis"
Advisor: Ron Krebs

Jo, Seo Nyeong
"Gender Matters in the Judiciary: Adjudicating Sexual Assault in Korea"
Advisor: Lisa Hilbink

Mitamura, Emily
"Plots of Violence: Knowledge Production and the Cambodian Genocide"
Advisor: Robert Nichols

Sorensen, Ashley
"How Aspects of Social Class Influence Partisan Choice"
Advisor: Paul Goren

Wehyee, Yakasah
"The Fallen Whig: The Durability of Dominant Party Rule in Liberia"
Advisor: David Samuels

Ezekiel Luther
"The Alienated American"
Advisor: Howie Lavine

Armendariz Miranda, Paula
"Closed Personalities: The Psychological Roots of Autocratic Support"
Advisor: David Samuels

Blasenheim, Tracey P
"Rule of Law(yers): Legal Expertise in the United States Military and the Prosecution of Modern Warfare"
Advisor: Ron Krebs

Ghosh, Samarjit
"Of places and practices: Three essays on cities and security"
Advisor: Helen Kinsella

Houston, Rachael Belle
"Like, Share, and Comment #SCOTUS: Public Engagement with the U.S. Supreme Court on Facebook"
Advisor: Timothy Johnson

Juca, Ivan Chaves
"Explaining the Puzzle of Weak Parties with Strong Legislative Leaders in Brazil: Towards a Theory of Clientelistic Party Discipline"
Advisor: David Samuels

Li, Siyu
"External Constraints and Internal Norms on the U.S. Supreme Court"
Advisor: Timothy Johnson

Mendez Gutierrez, Maria J
"Violence as Work: Living and Producing in Central America's Gang Necroeconomies"
Advisor: Raymond Duvall

Nguyen, Oanh
"A State of Dependency: The Political Economy of Labor Migration in Malaysia"
Advisor: Teri Caraway

Potz-Nielsen, Carly Bianca
"Politics in the Third Age of Global Finance: Choosing Capital Controls"
Advisor: John Freeman

Sanchez, Maria
"Deference and Divergence in Regional Human Rights Courts"
Advisors: Tanisha Fazal and Cosette Creamer

Synder, Patrick
"Red Lines: Legitimation and Dissent in Contemporary Morocco"
Advisor: Kathleen Collins

Stundal, Logan Wayne
"The Epidemiology of Civil War"
Advisor: Tanisha Fazal

Tek, Farrah L
"Making Law Matter: The Legal Mobilization of Subaltern Actors in Cambodia"
Advisors: Teri Caraway and Lisa Hilbink

Heimark, Katrina
"The Irrationality of Contracting the Police: Crime Reporting in Contexts of Mistrust"
Advisors: David Samuels and Lisa Hilbink

Lunz Trujillo, Kristin
"A Case of Misunderstood Identity: The Role of Rural Identity in Contemporary American Mass Politics"
Advisor: Howard Lavine

Ralston, Robert
"Make Us Great Again: The Causes and Consequences of Declinism in Great Powers"
Advisor: Ronald Krebs

Kaire De Francisco, Jose Eduardo
"Dictatorships and the Globalization of Repression"
Advisor: David Samuels

Ralston, Robert James
"Make Us Great Again: The Causes and Consequences of Declinism in Great Powers"
Advisor: Ron Krebs

Gambino, Elena
"'Presence in Our Own Land:' Second Wave Feminism and the Lesbian Body Politic"
Advisor: Nancy Luxon

Halen, Jennifer
"Algorithmic Interventions: The Power and Politics of Algorithmic Decision Systems"
Advisors: Benjamin Begozzi and Joanne Miller

Kalaycioglu, Elif
"Possibilities of Global Governance: World Heritage and the Politics of Universal Value and Expertise"
Advisor: Raymond Duvall

Montal, Florencia
"Rage Against the Regime: Policy Responses to International Investment Arbitration"
Advisors: Ronald Krebs and John Freeman

Munhazim, Qais
"'Queering Borders:' War, Diaspora, Gender and Sexuality among Afghans in the United States"
Advisors: Raymond Duvall and Richa Nagar

Munoz, Avram
"The Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the Coalitional Representation of Latinxs in the U.S. House of Representatives"
Advisor: Kathryn Pearson

Kindervater, Garnet
"Politics of the Highly Improbable: Anticipation, Catastrophe, Security"
Advisors: Raymond Duvall and Joan Tronto

Koren, Ore
"Hunger Games: Analyzing Relationships Between Food Insecurity and Violence"
Advisor: John Freeman

Motta, Matthew
"The Informative Power of Campaign Advertising"
Advisor: Joanne Miller

Nakayama, Bryan
"From Aerospace to Cyberspace: The Evolution of Domains of Warfare"
Advisor: Ron Krebs

Smith, Brianna
"It's All Under Control: The Conditional Effects of Threat on Political Behavior"
Advisor: Paul Goren

Spindel, Jennifer
"Beyond Military Power: The Symbolic Politics of Conventional Weapons Transfers"
Advisor: Ronald Krebs

Baer-Bositis, Emily
"Organizing for Reform: The Democratic Study Group and the Role of Party Factions in Driving Institutional Change in the House of Representatives"
Advisor: Kathryn Pearson

Farhart, Christina
"Look Who is Disaffected Now: Political Causes and Consequences of Learned Helplessness in the U.S."
Advisor: Joanne Miller

Hobbs-Morgan, Chase
"Greenhouse Democracy: A Political Theory for Climate Change"
Advisor: Joan Tronto

Lockhart, Lucas
"Guardians of Market Integrity: Political Institutions, Regulatory Independence, and Stock Market Development"
Advisors: Benjamin Ansell and Jane Gingrich

Olson, Adam
"Conflict, Consensus, and Opportunity: Congress and the Development of the American Welfare State"
Advisor: Andrew Karch

Snall, Paul
"Power and the Quest for Justice"
Advisor: Tim Johnson

Valverde, Sergio
"A Speculative Theory of Politics: Logic of the Pary-Form"
Advisors: Antonio Vazquez-Arroyo and Raymond Duvall

Asaadi, Robert R
"Colonies, Clients, and Rogues: Power and the Production of Order in International Politics"
Advisors: Raymond Duvall and Kathleen Collins

Binay, Sema
"Coloring the Lines through Culture? Race and Racialization in International Relations"
Advisor: Raymond Duvall

Callaghan, Timothy H
"Appealing Politics? Using the Bully Pulpit to Change Opinions and Influence Policy"
Advisor: Andrew Karch

English, Ashley
"Implementing Intersectionality: Creating Women’s Interests in the Rulemaking Process"
Advisors: Kathryn Pearson and Dara Strolovitch

Luttig, Matthew D
"The Rise of Partisan Rigidity: The Nature and Origins of Partisan Extremism in American Politics."
Advisor: Howard Lavine

Murib, Zein
"Brokering Identity: Exploring the Construction of the LGBT Political Identity and Interests in U.S. Politics, 1968-2001"
Advisor: Dara Strolovitch

Pryor, Thomas
"They Psychology of Legal Decision Making"
Advisor: Timothy Johnson

Sorenson, Maron W
"The Impact of Institutional Rules on the U.S. Supreme Court"
Advisor: Timothy Johnson

Temin, David
"Remapping the World: Vine Deloria, Jr. and the Ends of Settler Sovereignty"
Advisor: Joan Tronto

Beitman, Aaron L
"Distributional Consequences and Executive Regime Types: The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment Incentives."
Advisor: John Freeman

Binnet, Pelin Azer
"My Wife, My Choice: Reproductive Policymaking and Social Control in Turkey."
Advisors: Daniel Kelliher and Joe Soss

Chen, Philip G
"Taking Campaigns Personally: The Big Five Aspects and Political Behavior."
Advisor: Paul Goren

Coe, Brooke N
"Regional Identities and Dynamic Normative Orders in the Global South: A Comparative Study."
Advisor: Kathryn Sikkink

Donkova, Ralitsa H
"Regimes of International Giving: The Politics of Public and Private Foreign Assistance in the United States, Britain, and Sweden."
Advisor: Jane Gingrich

Edwards, Ross A
"Crisis of the Republic: Memory, History, and the Hermeneutics of Citizenship."
Advisors: Mary Dietz and Antonio Vazquez Arroyo

Goltz, Caleb T
"Becoming Responsible: Conceptual Change in the Emergence of Tort Law."
Advisor: Joan Tronto

Lucas, Kevin E
"Programmatic Political Competition in Latin America: Recognizing the Role Played by Political Parties in Determining the Nature of Party-Voter Linkages."
Advisor: David Samuels

Lucius, Andrew M
"Why Cities Fail: Local Political Institutions and the Fates of Metropolitan Economies."
Advisor: John Freeman

Reda, Molla
"The Wartime Basis of Postwar Political Development: Civil War Termination, Resource Mobilization, and State-Building."
Advisor: Ronald Krebs

Wade, Magic M
"Labor's Last Stand? The Great Recession and Public Sector Collective Bargaining Reform in the American States."
Advisor: Andrew Karch

Winham, Ilya P.
"After Totalitarianism: Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, and the Realization and Defeat of the Western Tradition."
Advisor: Mary Dietz

Anderson, Joshua R
"The Commonwealth of Social Science: The American Social Science Association and a Pragmatist Politics of Expertise"
Advisor: James Farr

Bryan, Amanda Clare
"Vox Populi Vox Curiae: Public Opinion and the U.S. Supreme Court"
Advisor: Timothy Russell Johnson

Dahl, Adam J
"Empire of the People: The Ideology of Democratic Empire in the Antebellum United States"
Advisors: Joan C Tronto and Joe Soss

Forrest, Michael David
"Dilemmas of Political Representation: Antipoverty Advocacy in the Post-Civil Rights Era"
Advisors: Dara Strolovitch and Joe Soss

Gregory, Charles
"Senatorial Deliberation and Supreme Court Nominations"
Advisor: Timothy Russell Johnson

McCracken, Darrah
"Trading Places to Care? Humanitarians and Migrants in World Politics"
Advisor: Joan C Tronto

Pahnke, Anthony R
"Social Movement Self-Governance: The Contentious Nature of the Alternative Service Provision by Brazil's Landless Workers Movement"
Advisor: David Julian Samuels

Thomson, Henry Roderick
"Food and Power: Authoritarian Regime Durability and Agricultural Policy"
Advisor: John Roy Freeman

Williams-Wyche, Shaun N
"Power of the President: Party Competition in Presidential Regimes"
Advisor: David Julian Samuels

Yaylaci, Ismail
"Performative Socialization in World Politics: Islamism, Secularism and Democracy in Turkey and Egypt"
Advisor: Raymond D Duvall

Bunte, Jonas Bartholomaus
"Debt and Coalitions: Domestic Politics and Sovereign Borrowing"
Advisor: John Roy Freeman

Cravens, Matthew Dirks
"The Role of Habit in Voting: Making and Breaking Habitual Voters"
Advisors: John L Sullivan and Joanne Marie Miller

Dancy, Geoffrey T
"The Impact of Human Rights Law in Time"
Advisor: Kathryn A Sikkink

Hindman, Matthew Dean
"Interest Group Citizenship: LGBT Politics from the Closet to K Street"
Advisors: Lisa J Disch and Dara Strolovitch

Hoffman, Mark N
"Rethinking the Politics of Immigration: Colonial Modes of Immigration Management and the Ambivalent Resilience of the Empire State"
Advisor: Raymond D Duvall

Julius, Michael A
"Stacking the Political Deck: Presidential Midterm Campaigning and the Separation of Powers"
Advisor: Kathryn Lynn Pearson

Mantilla Casas, Giovanni Fabrizio
"Under (Social) Pressure: The Historical Regulation of Internal Armed Conflicts through International Law"
Advisor: Kathryn A Sikkink

Meyerhoff, Eli L
"Political Theory for an Alter-University Movement: Decolonial, Abolitionist Study within, against, and beyond the Education Regime"
Advisor: Joan C Tronto

Sharrow, Elizabeth A
"Forty Years on the basis of sex: Title IX"
Advisor: Dara Strolovitch

Sheagley, Geoffrey D
"Political Disagreement and Decision-Making in American Politics"
Advisor: Joanne Marie Miller

Vinson, Laura Catherine
"The Inevitable Clash? Inter-religious Violence and Local Power-sharing in Nigeria"
Advisors: Kathleen A Collins and David Julian Samuels

Wang, Zhen
"Career Ambition and Local Compliance: The Political Logic of Tourism Development Policy Implementation in China"
Advisor: David Julian Samuels