Recent News

LeVeck Paper Accepted in International Studies Quarterly

August 24, 2016 — Brad LeVeck's paper, "No False Promises: How The Prospect of Non-Compliance Affects Elite Preferences for International Cooperation," was accepted for publication in the International Studies Quarterly.

Two Positions in either Political Institutions or Political Behavior Open at UC Merced

August 7, 2016 — The political science program at UC Merced invites applications for two positions in either Political Institutions or Political Behavior with a substantive focus in American Politics, Comparative Politics, or International Relations, at the rank of Assistant Professor (tenure-track). More information is available here.

Conrad and Ritter Co-Hosted Vision in Methodology Conference

May 24, 2016 — Courtenay Conrad and Emily Ritter co-hosted the 2016 Visions in Methodology (VIM) Conference, May 16-18, at UC Davis. VIM is designed to address the broad goal of supporting women who study political methodology.

Huang Paper Cited on the Carnegie Moscow Center Website

May 24, 2016 — Haifeng Huang's paper, "Propaganda as Siganling", was cited in a commentary on the Carnegie Moscow Center website.

Hibbing Paper Accepted in Political Behavior

May 5, 2016 — Matt Hibbing's paper, "The Symbolic Benefits of Descriptive and Substantive Representation" (with Matthew Hayes), has been accepted for publication in Political Behavior.

Fortunato Paper Accepted for Publication in Political Science Research and Methods

April 29, 2016 — David Fortunato's paper, "Heuristics in Context" (with Randy Stevenson), has been accepted for publication in Political Science Research and Methods.

Intawan Awarded the 2016-2017 President's Dissertation Year Fellowship

April 28, 2016 — Graduate student Chanita Intawan has been awarded the 2016-2017 President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship, a highly competitive campus-wide fellowship.

Huang Paper Accepted for Publication in Political Science Research and Methods

April 26, 2016 — Haifeng Huang's paper "Media, Protest Diffusion, and Authoritarian Resilience" was accepted for publication in Political Science Research and Methods.

Fortunato Interviewed in the Sacramento Bee

April 25, 2016 — David Fortunato was interviewed for an article on concealed guns in the Sacramento Bee.

Fortunato Paper Accepted for Publication in Political Science Research and Methods

April 25, 2016 — David Fortunato's paper, "All Economics Is Local: Spatial Aggregations of Economic Information" (with Laron Williams and Clint Swift), was accepted for publication in Political Science Research and Methods.

Nicholson and Coe Paper Forthcoming in Political Behavior

April 19, 2016 — Professor Steve Nicholson and and graduate student Chelsea Coe's paper, "The Politics of Beauty: The Effects of Partisan Bias on Physical Attractiveness" (with Jason Emory and Anna V. Song), was accepted by Political Behavior and is now available on the journal's website.

James Lo to Give Talk on Fast Estimation of Ideal Points with Massive Data

April 19, 2016James Lo, Postdoctoral Research Associate in political science at Princeton University, will give a talk titled, "Fast Estimation of Ideal Points with Massive Data" (with Kosuke Imai and Jonathan Olmsted, forthcoming in the American Political Science Review), on Wednesday, April 20th, as part of theUnderstanding Politics Speaker Series.

Theodoridis Gave Talk at UW-Madison

April 10, 2016 — Alex Theodoridis gave a talk titled, "What Goes with Red and Blue? Assessing Partisan Cognition Through Conjoint Classification experiments," in the American Politics Workshop at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on April 4, 2016.

Undergraduate Student Joshua Mason Presented Paper at WPSA

March 31, 2016 — Undergraduate student Joshua Mason presented a paper titled "Incentives to Know: Differences in State Level Policy Knowledge" at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting last week in San Diego.

Jeffrey Jenkins Gave Talk on Pivotal Politics and Landmark Laws

March 31, 2016Jeffrey Jenkins, Professor of Political Science at the University of Virginia, gave a talk titled "Pivotal Politics and the Ideological Content of Landmark Laws" on Wednesday, March 30th, as part of the Understanding Politics Speaker Series.

Lecture of Political Science Opening at UC Merced

March 18, 2016 — The political science program at UC Merced invites applications for a lecturer position in International Relations and/or Comparative Politics for AY 2016-2017. More information is available here.

Hibbing and Deol Paper Accepted in the Social Science Quarterly

March 7, 2016 — Professor Matt Hibbing and graduate student Raman Deol's paper, "Nostalgia Isn’t What It Used to Be: Partisan Bias in Views On the Past" (co-authored with Matthew Hayes), was accepted for publication in the Social Science Quarterly.

Conrad and Ritter Organized Book Workshop

March 7, 2016 — Professors Courtenay Conrad and Emily Ritter organized a workshop on their book manuscript on March 4 and 5, 2016.

Graduate Students Coe and Canelo Selected as Finalists for UC Merced GradSLAM!

March 3, 2016 — Graduate students Chelsea Coe and Kayla Canelo have been selected as finalists for the 2016 UC Merced GradSLAM!, a UC-wide competition that provides graduate students with a forum to explain the methods, results, and significance of your research via a three-minute presentation to a non-specialty audience and panel of judges.

Jeffrey Staton Gave Talk on Rule of Law and Regime Survival

March 2, 2016 — Jeffrey Staton, Associate Professor of Political Science at Emory University, gave a talk entitled "Bending but not Breaking: Rule of Law Tensions and Regime Survival" on Wednesday, March 2, as part of the Understanding Politics Speaker Series.

Jessica Braithwaite Gave Talk on Government Repression in Post-War States

February 24, 2016 — Jessica Braithwaite, Assistant Professor of Political Science in the School of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, gave a talk entitled "In Search of Peace: Government Repression in Post-War States" on Wednesday, February 24, as part of the UC Merced Understanding Politics Speaker Series.

Troustine Discusses the Flint Water Crisis on the Monkey Cage Blog

February 8, 2016 published an article on the political origins of the Flint Water Crisis on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog.

Zoltan Hajnal to Give Talk on Political Inequality in America

January 26, 2016 — Zoltan Hajnal, Professor of Political Science at UCSD, will give a talk entitled "Political Inequality in America: Who Loses and What Can Be Done About It?" on Wednesday, January 27, as part of the UC Merced Understanding Politics Speaker Series.

Assistant Professor of Political Science Opening at UC Merced

January 18, 2016 — The political science program at UC Merced invites applications for a position in either Political Institutions or Political Behavior with a substantive focus in American Politics, Comparative Politics, or International Relations, at the rank of Assistant Professor. Completed applications must be received by February 12, 2016 to receive consideration. More information is available here.

Ritter Received Early Career Award

January 8, 2016 — Emily Ritter received the 2015 Early Career Award from the Women's Caucus of the Midwest Political Science Association.

LeVeck Gave Talk at the MIT Media Lab

December 8, 2015 — Brad LeVeck gave a talk entitled, "The Democratic Peace and the Wisdom of Crowds," at the MIT Media Lab on October 8, 2015.

Huang Quoted in Foreign Policy

December 7, 2015 — Haifeng Huang was quoted in an article in Foreign Policy about the impact of American education on Chinese students.

Huang Interviewed by the Los Angeles Times

November 23, 2015 — Haifeng Huang was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on China's social credit system.

Trounstine Paper Featured on the Washington Post's Wonkblog

October 28, 2015 — Jessica Trounstine's paper, "Segregation and Inequality in Public Goods," was featured in the Washington Post's Wonkblog.

William Heller to Give Talk on Party Position Taking

October 27, 2015 — William Heller, Associate Professor of Political Science at Binghamton University (SUNY), will give a talk entitled, "Leaders and Labels: A Principal-Agent Perspective on Party Position Taking," as part of the Understanding Politics Speaker Series on October 28, 2015.

Theodoridis Gave Talk at the University of Virginia

October 26, 2015 — Alex Theodoridis gave a talk entitled, "What Goes with Red and Blue? Parties, Issues and Traits in the Minds of Voters," in the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, on October 23, 2015.

Fortunato Interviewed on Modesto and Chicago Radio Shows

October 22, 2015 — David Fortunato was interviewed on the "Trevor Carey Show" in Modesto and "Coffee and Markets" in Chicago about his article "Can Easing Concealed Carry Deter Crime?"

Fortunato Paper Accepted for Publication in the Journal of Politics

October 22, 2015 — David Fortunato's paper, "Context, Heuristics, and Political Knowledge: Explaining Cross-National Variation in Citizens’ Left-Right Knowledge" (with Randy Stevenson and Greg Vonnahme), was accepted for publication in the Journal of Politics.

Huang Interviewed on BYU Radio

October 21, 2015 — Haifeng Huang was live interviewed on BYU Radio's Top of Mind with Julie Rose about his recent publication, "International Knowledge and Domestic Evaluations," on October 20, 2015.

Hare Gave Talk on Ideological Preferences in the American Mass Public

October 16, 2015 — Christopher Hare, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Davis, gave a talk entitled, "Ideological Preferences and Perceptions in the American Mass Public," as part of the Understanding Politics Speaker Series on October 14, 2015.

Huang Research Cited on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog

October 14, 2015 — Haifeng Huang's research on propaganda was cited in an article on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog.

LeVeck Paper Accepted for Publication in the Journal of Politics

October 12, 2015 — Brad LeVeck's paper, "How Activists Perceive the Utility of International Law" (with Emilie Hafner-Burton and David Victor), was accepted for publication in the Journal of Politics.

Theodoridis Research Referenced by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Time

September 23, 2015 — Alex Theodoridis' research was referenced in a Time commentary on education by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Ritter Participated in the International Methods Colloquium's Roundtable Discussion

September 21, 2015 — Emily Ritter participated in the International Methods Colloquium's recent roundtable on job opportunities for students with Political Science PhDs.

Ritter and Conrad Paper Accepted for Publication in the Review of International Organizations

September 17, 2015 — Emily Ritter and Courtenay Conrad's paper, "Human Rights Treaties and Mobilized Dissent against the State," was accepted for publication in the Review of International Organizations.

Huang Paper Accepted for Publication in the Journal of Contemporary China

September 16, 2015 — Haifeng Huang's paper, "Personal Character or Social Expectation: A Formal Analysis of 'Suzhi'," was accepted for publication in the Journal of Contemporary China.

LeVeck Research Cited on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog

September 14, 2015 — Brad LeVeck's research on polarization and elections was cited in an article on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog.

Ritter Paper Accepted for Publication in the International Studies Quarterly

September 11, 2015 — Emily Ritter's paper, "National Leaders, Political Security, and the Formation of Military Coalitions" (with Scott Wolford), was accepted for publication in the International Studies Quarterly.

Huang Research Featured on UC Merced News

September 10, 2015Haifeng Huang's research on misinformation, rumor and propaganda is featured in an article on UC Merced News.

Trounstine Paper Accepted for Publication in the American Journal of Political Science

September 8, 2015 — Jessica Trounstine's paper, "Segregation and Inequality in Public Goods," was accepted for publication in the American Journal of Political Science.

Ritter Paper Awarded the Bruce Russett Award for the Best Paper Published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution during 2014

September 1, 2015Emily Ritter's paper, "Policy Disputes, Political Survival, and the Onset and Severity of State Repression," has been awarded the Bruce Russett Award for the best paper published in the Journal of Conflict Resolution during 2014.

Huang Research Featured on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog

August 26, 2015Haifeng Huang's research on political propaganda was featured in an article on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog.

Canelo Research Featured in UC Merced University News

August 19, 2015 Graduate Student Kayla Canelo’s research on the role of gender in perception of political scandals was featured in an article on the UC Merced University News Website.

Yeh Paper Accepted for Publication in the China Quarterly

August 4, 2015 Yao-Yuan Yeh's paper, "Attitudinal Differences among the Cultural Revolution Cohort: Effects of the Send-down Experience" (with Robert Harmel), was accepted for publication in the China Quarterly.

Monroe Paper Accepted for Publication in Public Choice

July 29, 2015 Nate Monroe's paper, "The Jeffords Switch and Legislator Rolls in the U.S. Senate" (with Chris Den Hartog), was accepted for publication in Public Choice.

Monroe Gave Talk to the Merced Rotary Club

July 29, 2015 — Nate Monroe gave a talk to the Merced Rotary Club on July 7th about UC Merced Political Science and what it means to use science to study politics.

Canelo, Coe, and Intawan Present Posters at POLMETH Conference

July 27, 2015 — Graduate Students Kayla Canelo and Chelsea Coe presented a poster, "Matching Red and Blue: Partisan Intensity, Composition & 'Potential Outcomes'" (with Alexander G. Theodoridis), and Graduate Student Chanita Intawan presented a poster, "Easy IAT: An Open-Source and Customizable Online Implicit Association Test" (with Graham William Thompson), at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Political Methodology at the University of Rochester.

Trounstine Research Featured in UC Merced News

July 16, 2015Jessica Trounstine's research on inequalities in the provision of public goods was featured in UC Merced News on July 15, 2015.

Huang Research Featured in Foreign Policy

June 25, 2015Haifeng Huang's research on propaganda and signaling in China was featured in the Foreign Policy article, "Beyond Propaganda," on June 23, 2015.

Fortunato Research Featured on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage Blog

June 22, 2015David Fortunato's blog post, "Would 'concealed carry' have stopped Dylann Roof's church shooting spree?," was featured on the Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog.

Ritter Contribution Highlighted on ISQ Blog

June 6, 2015 — Emily Ritter's formal model replication, "Oil, Shifting Power, and Civil Conflict," was featured on the International Studies Association blog on June 6, 2015.

Thedoridis to Give Talk on Voter Appetite for Campaign Ads

June 4, 2015 Alex Theodoridis will present a paper, "Seeing Spots: An Experimental Examination of Voter Appetite for Negative and Positive Campaign Ads," at the Duke-Oxford Conference on Cognitive Approaches to Law, Economics, Politics and Policy on June 5, 2015.

Fortunato to Give Talk on Legislative Review and Party Differentiation

June 3, 2015 — David Fortunato will give a talk entitled, "Legislative Review and Party Differentation in Coalition Government," at the Manifesto Project User Conference 2015 in WZB Berlin Social Science Center on June 4, 2015.

Theodoridis to Give Talk on Partisan Intensity

May 10, 2015 — Alex Theodoridis will give a talk entitled, "It’s My Party: Partisan Intensity through the Lens of Implicit Identity," in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago on May 11, 2015.

Coe Research Featured on UC Merced Graduate Division Website

May 6, 2015 Graduate Student Chelsea Coe's research was featured in an