In Depth - Representation
Faculty
Ben Bishin's interests include questions of democracy, representation, elections, public opinion, Cuban American politics, and legislative politics. His recent book is titled Tyranny of the Minority: The Subconstituency Politics Theory of Representation (Temple, 2009). He recently started a project that examines the degree to which candidates for office keep their campaign promises.
Martin Johnson investigates how public opinion affects public policy at the state-level. His research has focused on decisions in the environmental and welfare policy domains. Johnson is also working on an extensive project investigating the role of political journalists in the processes of policy responsiveness and political accountability. He has examined local policymaking as well. For example, in a recent paper, Johnson and his co-authors find that local policy makers appear more responsive to public opinion in redistributive policy decisions than in other policy domains.
Karthick Ramakrishnan’s research interests include questions of representation, political behavior, and public policy as they relate to immigrants and racial minorities in the United States. He is working on two projects related to representation: the first looks at the extent to which local governments are responsive to the needs of immigrant residents, and the other examines the role of partisanship and public opinion in the devolution of immigration-related policies down to the state and local levels.
Antoine Yoshinaka’s research interests include legislative and party politics, redistricting, voting rights, and representation. He is currently conducting research (jointly with a UCR graduate student) on the partisan effects of redistricting.
Relevant Courses
Undergraduate Courses
POSC 101. The U.S. Congress
POSC 108. Politics of Race, Immigration, and Ethnicity in the United States
POSC 111. Democracy and the Social Contract
POSC 117. Contemporary Democratic Theory
POSC 143. Elections and Political Participation
POSC 148. Politics of Congressional Elections
POSC 151. British Government and Politics (?)
Graduate Courses
POSC 208. Seminar in Representation
POSC 220. Politics of Race, Immigration, and Ethnicity
POSC 257. Comparative Political Behavior and Elections
POSC 272. Parties and Party Systems in Western Europe
POSC 276. Democracy and Democratization
Selected Publications
Bishin, Benjamin. 2009. Tyranny of the Minority: The Subconstituency Politics Theory of Representation. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Christopher A. Cooper and Martin Johnson. 2009. "Representative Reporters? Examining Journalists’ Ideology in Context." Social Science Quarterly, 90(2):387-406.
Garrick L. Percival, Martin Johnson, and Max Neiman. 2009. "Representation and Local Policy: Relating Ideology to County-Level Policy Adoption." Political Research Quarterly, 61(1):164-177.
Grose, Christian, and Antoine Yoshinaka. 2005. "Partisan Politics and Electoral Design: The Enfranchisement of Felons and Ex-Felons in the U.S., 1960-1999." State and Local Government Review 37 (1): 49-60.
Lewis, Paul G., and S. Karthick Ramakrishnan. 2007. "Police Practices in Immigrant-Destination Cities: Political Control or Bureaucratic Professionalism?" Urban Affairs Review 42(6): 874-900.
Martin Johnson, Paul Brace, and Kevin Arceneaux. 2005. "Public Opinion and Dynamic Representation in the American States: The Case of Environmental Attitudes." Social Science Quarterly, 86(1):87-108.
Mascotte, Louis, André Blais, and Antoine Yoshinaka. 2004. Establishing the Rules of the Game: Election Laws in Democracies. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Murphy, Chad, and Antoine Yoshinaka. 2009. "Are Mapmakers Able to Target and Protect Congressional Incumbents? The Institutional Dynamics of Electoral Competition." American Politics Research.
