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Jonathan Nagler
New York University
Visiting Scholar
2015 to 2016
Nagler will work on a book that examines how increases in economic inequality have affected voter turnout in congressional elections from 1972 through 2014. Using a variety of data sources not previously available, he will assess the ideologies of congressional candidates across many elections, and explore how turnout was affected by the ways in which voters from different income groups perceived those candidates' positions.

Sharyn O'Halloran
Columbia University
Visiting Scholar
2003 to 2004
Sharyn O'Halloran, associate professor of political science and international affairs at Columbia University, and David Epstein, associate professor of political science at Columbia University, will write a book that analyzes the impact of race-based districting on racial representation in Congress and on public policy. Epstein and O'Halloran will explore how districting strategies impact the ability of minority groups to affect the passage of legislation at both the national and state levels.

Barry O'Neill
University of California, Los Angeles
Visiting Scholar
2005 to 2006
Barry O’Neill, Professor of Political Science at University of California, Los Angeles, will conduct research on how public apologies can be used to resolve conflict and promote reconciliation between states or groups. He will discuss strategic dilemmas in apologizing, assess the importance of symbolism in apologies, and study apology patterns in different cultures. For the project, he will assemble a systematic database of international apologies that will discuss how and why they were made, and how they were received.


J. Eric Oliver
University of Chicago
Visiting Scholar
2002 to 2003
J. Eric Oliver, associate professor of political science at the University of Chicago, will write a book on the impact of multiracial segregation on American democracy. New waves of immigration from Asia and Latin America are forcing the United States to contend with the competing claims of a range of racial and ethnic groups. Yet even as the nation moves toward this multiracial plurality, most racial and ethnic groups continue to lead highly segregated lives.

Thomas R. Palfrey
California Institute of Technology
Visiting Scholar
2014 to 2015
Palfrey will write a book on Quantal Response Equilibrium (QRE) and its applications to the social sciences. Developed by Palfrey and Richard McKelvey, QRE is a game theory concept that is now one of the leading approaches to modeling bounded rationality—the idea that individuals’ rationality is limited by the information they have—in games.

David K. Park
George Washington University
Visiting Scholar
2009 to 2010
David K. Park, assistant professor of political science at George Washington University, will advance a study examining how the electoral map of U.S. presidential elections shifted (in the years from 1876 to 2000) from red to blue among states along the coasts and from blue to red among states in the South and Midwest. Park will investigate possible causes for these reversals, including the distribution of wealth and inequality between the states, changes in political parties’ ideologies, changes in voter priorities, and the urban/rural divide.

R. Jisung Park
University of Pennsylvania
Visiting Scholar
2024 to 2025
Park (with collaborator Anna Stansbury) will investigate the extent to which the availability and quality of workers’ outside labor market options affect their health and safety in the workplace. Using data from approximately 15 million workers’ compensation claims from California workplaces, Park finds that better outside-occupation options are associated with reductions in the workplace injury rate.

Eric Patashnik
Brown University
Visiting Scholar
2024 to 2025
Patashnik will examine the federal government’s performance as a problem-solving institution. Drawing on theories of political failure and a historical review of problem-solving activities across domestic issues, including education, environment, and healthcare, Patashnik will write a book about the contemporary policy state and how government’s capacity to frame and address important societal problems can be improved.

Justin Phillips
Columbia University
Visiting Scholar
2009 to 2010
Justin Phillips, assistant professor of political science at Columbia University, will collaborate with Leah Brooks, assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto, in a working group examining how neighborhood conditions and community organizations in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Detroit are related to the political processes behind city redistributive policies. Specifically, the study will examine whether voter support of a particular politician influences the subsequent allocation of Community Development Block Grants.
Samuel L. Popkin
University of California, San Diego
Visiting Scholar
2008 to 2009
Samuel L. Popkin, Professor of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego, will complete a book on the history of presidential campaign strategy and decision-making. Popkin will trace the history of critical campaign decisions from 1948 onwards. He has completed archival research for the book and has interviewed strategists and pollsters from all campaigns since 1960.

Wendy M. Rahn
University of Minnesota
Visiting Scholar
2011 to 2012
Rahn will work on a book manuscript examining the parallel between rising economic inequality and the growing political clout of citizen investors. She will show how the historical trends of rising inequality, the "financialization" of the American economy, and Americans’ expanded participation in the financial market have helped shape and condition citizen’s policy preferences and political behavior.

S. Karthick Ramakrishnan
University of California, Riverside
Visiting Scholar
2006 to 2007
S. Karthick Ramakrishnan, Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of California, Riverside, will spend the fall at the Foundation analyzing immigrant civic engagement and its implications for social and political inequality in several U.S. and Canadian cities. He will look at immigrant participation in mainstream and ethnic organizations, asking whether such behavior serves as a way for immigrants to combat inequality and improve their social position.

S. Karthick Ramakrishnan
University of California, Riverside
Visiting Scholar
2011 to 2012
Ramakrishnan will write a book that examines the contours and determinants of American public opinion on immigration. Using survey data and embedded survey experiments from 2006 through 2010, he will analyze the relative importance of racial prejudice, partisanship, economic anxiety, and rule-of-law concerns in shaping American attitudes towards immigrants and immigration policy. His project will also consider the ways in which public opinion on immigration may be similar to opinion on race-related issues such as affirmative action, and economic issues such as trade and offshoring.

Rose Razaghian
Yale University
Visiting Scholar
2004 to 2005
Ira Katznelson, Ruggles Professor of Political Science and History at Columbia University, John Lapinski, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University, and Rose Razaghian, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University, form a working group that will examine the entire history of Congressional roll call votes to study how the type of policy at stake in legislative debate determines political relationships and outcomes.

Wilbur C. Rich
Wellesley College
Visiting Scholar
2000 to 2001
Wilbur Rich, professor of political science at Wellesley College, will work on a book about the role of the press in shaping public conceptions of U.S. city mayors, including David Dinkins, former mayor of New York, and Thomas Menino, mayor of Boston. Both mayors were the first of their ethnic group to lead their cities, and both owe their public image to the press. Mayors who boast a popular public image, due to favorable press coverage, can exercise control and influence far beyond the limited powers of their office.

Thomas Romer
Princeton University
Visiting Scholar
2005 to 2006
Sean Corcoran, Assistant Professor of Economics at California State University-Sacramento, Thomas Romer, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and Howard Rosenthal, Professor of Politics at New York University, form a working group that will construct a comprehensive time-series database with demographic, political, and financial information on American school districts. While at the Foundation, they will use information from this database to begin writing a book about the political economy of financing U.S.

Howard Rosenthal
New York University
Visiting Scholar
2005 to 2006
Sean Corcoran, Assistant Professor of Economics at California State University-Sacramento, Thomas Romer, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs at Princeton University, and Howard Rosenthal, Professor of Politics at New York University, form a working group that will construct a comprehensive time-series database with demographic, political, and financial information on American school districts. While at the Foundation, they will use information from this database to begin writing a book about the political economy of financing U.S.

Howard Rosenthal
Princeton University
Visiting Scholar
2002 to 2003
Howard Rosenthal, the Roger Williams Straus Professor of Social Sciences and professor of politics at Princeton University, will study the increase of income and wealth inequality in the United States since the 1970s and its effects on health and other outcomes. Rosenthal will analyze the political consequences of the vast increase in the number of households with high income and wealth levels over the past 50 years.

Bo Rothstein
Göteborg University
Visiting Scholar
1998 to 1999
Bo Rothstein, August Röhss professor of Political Science at Göteborg University, Sweden, will study the rise and fall of "the Swedish model," a unique political and economic system that for decades produced outstanding economic growth coupled with a generous welfare state. Rothstein illuminates the importance of trust in two key aspects of the Swedish model: stable alliances between unions and the ruling Social Democratic Party, and direct participation by major interest organizations in public policy formation.