Houston Political Science

The debate over DHS funding is ongoing. How has opinion shifted on this topic in recent years?

In POQ, Ollerenshaw & Jardina find that opposition to federal spending on border security has dramatically increased among Democrats.

Read more: doi.org/10.1093/poq/...

Legislators are raising money instead of making policy - Niskanen Center Michael Kistner finds that when legislators spend a lot of time raising money, they spend less making policy.

Legislators Are Raising Money Instead of Making Policy

By rewarding fundraising, parties miss out on diverse leaders & effective legislators. But states that reform make more policy.

New #ScienceOfPolitics with Michael Kistner on Paying for the Party
www.niskanencenter.org/legislators-...

Ambition and Conflict in State Legislatures | The Journal of Politics: Vol 0, No ja

Congratulations to Michael Kistner (@mkistner.bsky.social) on the forthcoming publication of his new article “Ambition and Conflict in State Legislatures” in the Journal of Politics (@thejop.bsky.social).

Read the article here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

Magical Practices and the Recruitment of Women into Rebel Groups Abstracts. Magical practices play a central role in the indoctrination and socialization processes of many rebel organizations. Qualitative scholarship has

In a new article @isq-jrnl.bsky.social, Nazli Avdan, Shelby Davis (an excellent Ph.D. student @houstonpolsci.bsky.social), and I examine the role that women play as practitioners of magic in African rebel organizations.

doi.org/10.1093/isq/...

Our next candidate is Lucia Lopez. Lucia’s research explains how public opinion and public policy intersect, particularly in the domain of welfare. Her work is funded by the Russell Sage Foundation and the Rapoport Family Foundation. Find out more at Lucia-Lopez.com.

Looking to hire a political economist or comparativist? Look no further! Shiladitya is a PhD candidate with EITM training who studies electoral politics. Find out more at sites.google.com/view/shiladi....

Looking to hire a political science PhD? UH has some great candidates on the job market right now. Over the next few days we’ll be highlighting them.

Today’s candidate is Grace Cho, a political theorist who studies religion and secularization.

Timely research from Prof. Ollerenshaw. Read about it here!

Congratulations to PhD Candidate Lucía López (@llopez.bsky.social) on being awarded the 2025–26 Early Career Fellowship from the APSA Experimental Research Section (@experimentsapsa.bsky.social)! 🎉 Lucía is on the academic job market this year -- learn more about her research at lucia-lopez.com.

Congratulations to @llopez.bsky.social on being named a 2025–2026 @epovb.bsky.social Early-Career Fellow!

This fellowship recognizes outstanding scholarship and potential in the field of Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior.

Alexander Hamilton’s Theory of Conscience: Conscience as a Source of Constitutional Obligation | American Political Thought: Vol 14, No 3 Abstract In this article, I analyze Alexander Hamilton’s understanding of conscience as a source of moral and political obligation. In Federalist no. 85, Hamilton argues that each citizen must judge t...

🎉 Congratulations to PhD student Kyle Martin!

His article, “Alexander Hamilton’s Theory of Conscience: Conscience as a Source of Constitutional Obligation,” has just been published in American Political Thought.

doi.org/10.1086/736327

Congratulations to PhD alumna Vanessa Baird on receiving the Law and Courts Teaching Award from the American Political Science Association’s Law and Courts Section!

Empowering candidacy: how authorizing the use of campaign funds for childcare increases women’s candidacy for state legislatures Women remain underrepresented at all levels of government in the United States and face numerous barriers to political participation, one of the most significant being household and caregiving resp...

Congratulations to recent PhD graduate Shana Hardin on her new publication in Politics, Groups, and Identities: "Empowering Candidacy: How Authorizing the Use of Campaign Funds for Childcare Increases Women’s Candidacy for State Legislatures."

Read it here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Rebels With Too Many Causes: Diverse Recruitment Appeals and the Intractability of Civil Conflicts - Michael J. Soules, 2025 Do rebel groups benefit from attempting to appeal to larger segments of society by mobilizing around more diverse ideologies? Prior work has examined a variety ...

Congratulations to Michael Soules (@michaeljsoules.bsky.social ) on his new article in Political Research Quarterly: "Rebels With Too Many Causes."

The article shows how broad rebel recruitment can prolong civil conflicts.

Read more here: doi.org/10.1177/1065...

Are State Legislative Leaders Moderates? Spatial models of legislative organization predict that elected leaders will be moderates with respect to their constituency, the party caucus. However, empirical studies of leader positioning in Con...

Congratulations to Boris Shor on the publication of his new article, "Are State Legislative Leaders Moderates?" in Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Read the article here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

How Features of Policy Design and Misperceptions Shape Public Opinion Housing vouchers are both effective and widely supported, yet the housing vouchers program is underfunded. This may be due to American’s conflicting views about housing assistance. Recent scholarship ...

Congratulations to Lucia Lopez on receiving a Russell Sage Foundation Dissertation Research Grant! 🎉

Lucia will be on the academic job market this year. You can learn more about her research at www.lucia-lopez.com.

www.russellsage.org/awarded-proj...

Catch up on faculty highlights, student achievements, new research, and more in the latest edition of the University of Houston Department of Political Science newsletter.

📬 Read it here: www.uh.edu/class/politi...

Congrats to Naomi Nubin-Sellers on her new role as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Dartmouth College!

A huge round of applause for Shana Hardin, who is now serving as Director of Research and Data at New American Leaders & New American Leaders Action Fund.

Lucas Lothamer has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at the University of Texas at Tyler. Congratulations, Lucas!

Double congratulations to Samantha Chapa! She’ll be a Postdoctoral Fellow at Notre Dame and has accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor role at the University of Texas–Arlington starting in 2026.

We’re excited to share that Eugenia Artabe has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor at the University of Houston–Downtown. Well-earned and well-deserved—congrats, Eugenia!

Robert Alvarez has accepted a position as Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University. Congratulations, Robert!

We are excited to announce the placements of our amazing PhD students and recent graduates. Please join us in celebrating their next steps! 👇

States with existing renewable energy policies are more likely to promote the equitable adoption of rooftop solar power finds @aparajitadatta.bsky.social‬ of @houstonpolsci.bsky.social

blogs.lse.ac.uk/usappblog/20...

We are saddened to share the news of the passing of our colleague, Alin Fumurescu. Alin was a valued member of our department and a thoughtful friend to many. He will be missed. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and all who knew him.

Congratulations to Allison Archer and Erik Peterson on their new article in PS: Political Science & Politics: “The Fragility of the Local News Trust Advantage.” A timely study on how partisan attacks erode trust in local journalism. Read here: doi.org/10.1017/S104...

Unraveling the Healthy Immigrant Paradox: The Impact of Inclusion on Immigrant Health Outcomes in the United States Objective Prior work finds that immigrants typically arrive in the United States with better health than native-born Americans but that their good health deteriorates over time due to a confluence o.....

Congrats to Sam Chapa and Jeronimo Cortina on their new article in Social Science Quarterly: "Unraveling the Healthy Immigrant Paradox."

doi.org/10.1111/ssqu...

The department will be hosting an open house to allow students to learn about the political science major and minor. It will be held on March 5th from 11:30 am to 1 pm. It will be held in PGH 448. Snacks will be provided!

Congratulations to Libby Jenke and her co-author Kirk Bansak. Their article "Odd Profiles in Conjoint Experimental Designs: Effects on Survey-Taking Attention and Behavior" was published in Political Analysis.

doi.org/10.1017/pan....