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Students on the Job Market for 2009 - 2010

Jennifer Fredette
Fields: Public law, comparative politics, political theory
Expected PhD Completion Date: 06/2010
Dissertation: “Muslim and French: Plural identity and today’s elite republican discourse in France”
Committee: Michael McCann (chair), Christine Di Stefano , Rachel Cichowski

Fredette's dissertation, entitled “Muslim and French: Plural identity and today’s elite republican discourse in France,” explores the disconnect between how Muslims and French elites discuss citizenship, identity, and belonging.  Fredette participated in the Center for European Studies' Comparative Federailsm program at Sciences Po-Paris in 2006, and was a visiting research fellow at Sciences Po-Bordeaux in 2008. She received her MA (“What Not to Wear,” winner of the Stuart Scheingold Award for Best Public Law Paper) from the University of Washington, and a her BA in French and Political Science from the University of the Pacific.  Fredette is currently a visiting professor in Political Science teaching Public Law at SUNY Albany.
email: jfredett@u.washington.edu
CV: http://students.washington.edu/jfredett/fredette_CV_2009-2010_online.pdf
website: http://students.washington.edu/jfredett/index.shtml



Brian Greenhill
Fields: International Relations, Methodology and Public Law
Dissertation: "Norm Transmission in Networks of Intergovernmental Organizations"
Committee: Aseem Prakash (chair), Mike Ward, James Caporaso , Rachel Cichowski

My dissertation examines the conditions under which networks of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) can serve as "transmission belts" for the diffusion of norms among states.  It develops a three-stage model of norm diffusion that conceives of IGOs as aggregators of the norms held by their member states and where states vary in terms of their ability to influence the normative environment of the IGOs to which they belong, and in terms of their receptivity to the norms that prevail within these organizations.  This model is used to test competing hypotheses about the role that socialization and coercion play in the transmission of a number of different norms that vary in terms of their liberal/illiberal characteristics, their degree of formal legalization and their level of interaction with civil society actors.  The results suggest that while IGOs play a powerful role in promoting the exchange of ideas between states, the nature of the individual IGOs that make up the IGO network make surprisingly little difference to the transmissibility of various types of norms.
email: bdgreen@u.washington.edu
CV:http://students.washington.edu/bdgreen/greenhill_cv.pdf
website:http://students.washington.edu/bdgreen/



Erica Johnson
Fields: Comparative Politics, Political Economy, Communist and
Post-Communist Politics and Societies, and International Relations (coursework completed)
Dissertation: "Authoritarian Regimes and Nongovernmental Organizations: Transitions in Health Care in Post-Soviet Central Asia"
Committee: Stephen E. Hanson (chair), Erik Wibbels, Rachel Cichowski

My dissertation is a comparative analysis of why and how authoritarian regimes manipulate health care strategies as a tool of regime survival in post-Soviet Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.  I explain what is replacing the comprehensive Soviet social safety net and capture health care restructuring since the collapse of socialism in contemporary Central Asia.  To explain the variation in state health care strategies, I argue that elite perceptions of the levels of political competition shape the state’s decision to control health care spending and provision and the degree of the state’s economic self-sufficiency determines the regime’s openness to foreign donors and investors and conditions the resulting state-NGO relationships in health care provision.  Drawing on language skills in Russian and Uzbek (a Turkic language related to Kazakh and Kyrgyz), dissertation research in three case countries, and more than 15 years of academic and professional experience throughout the former Soviet Union, my dissertation contributes new theoretical and empirical understandings of how autocrats use social welfare policy and state-NGO relationships as tools of governance and political survival.
email: ejj22@georgetown.edu

Sébastien G. Lazardeux
Fields: Comparative Politics, American Politics, Political Economy
Ph.D. Completed May 2009
Dissertation: “Cohabitation and Policy-Making Efficiency in Semi-Presidential Systems”
Committee: Anthony Gill (chair), John Wilkerson , John Keeler

I am currently a post-doctoral research fellow at the SPIRIT Research Center at the Institute of Political Studies, Bordeaux. My past and current research focuses on the relationship between governments and parliamentary assemblies. In my dissertation, I expand the debate about divided government and policy gridlock outside of the American setting by analyzing the effect of cohabitation (a form of divided government found in semi-presidential systems) on policy outputs. Using game theory as an analytical tool, I come to the counter-intuitive prediction- supported by empirical evidence- that policy paralysis will occur if the cohabitationist prime minister possesses a cohesive and sizeable legislative majority. Past projects also reflect my interest in legislative – executive relations. In two recent articles, I respectively propose an explanation for the punctuated development of the oversight capacity of the French Parliament and for the variations in the use of oversight tools between individual legislators.  I am currently working on the selection of committee members and on the influence of committees on French policy outputs. I am primarily interested in teaching courses on legislative institutions, European politics, and comparative political economy. 
email: s.lazardeux@sciencespobordeaux.fr
CV:http://spirit.sciencespobordeaux.fr/PDF/Slazardeux-_CV092009.pdf
website: http://spirit.sciencespobordeaux.fr/PagesCV/Lazardeux.htm

Taedong Lee
Fields:International Relations, Political Economy, Public Policy, and Methods
Expected PhD completion date: June 2010
Committee: Aseem Prakash (chair), Peter May , Karen Litfin

My research focuses on three areas: international environmental governance, policy networks, and NGOs. My dissertation examines the role of sub-national governments in global climate change policy. Along with quantitative and qualitative methodologies, I utilize network analysis to examine various issues that bear upon the emergence and structure of translocal governance, especially policy collaboration in the context of global climate change. Finally, I am interested in studying the role of NGO in economic development and democratic transitions.
email: taedong2@u.washington.edu
CV: http://staff.washington.edu/taedong2/CVtaedong.pdf
website: http://staff.washington.edu/taedong2/index.htm



Gregg Miller, Ph.D.
Field: Political Theory
Dissertation: “Mimesis in Communicative Action: Habermas and the Affective Bond of Understanding”
Committee: Christine Di Stefano (Chair), Nancy Hartsock, Jamie Mayerfeld, Mikkel Borch-Jacobsen (Comparative Literature)

Currently an Affiliate Lecturer at the University of Washington, Tacoma, I have taught previously at Brooklyn College, Lewis & Clark College, Western Washington University and the University of Washington in Seattle and in Tacoma.

My dissertation won the 2006 Dissertation Award granted by the Western Political Science Association for the best Dissertation in Political Science in the Western States, 2004/2005, and is under contract with SUNY Press.

The standard reading of Habermas supposes him an ardent rationalist and a defender of a neo- Kantian concept of autonomy. Under this reading, a respect for persons by democratic procedure secures legitimacy for the use of power. Contrary to this standard interpretation, I argue that the theory of communicative action does not merely entail democratic procedure, but also offers a theory of the production of meaning and solidarity, and that the latter destabilizes the status of the former. I show how Habermas backfills his procedural theory with a substantive accommodation among participants by reintroducing into the concept of rationality its ancient Greek complicity with mimetic power. Habermas’ innovative rendering of a specifically communicative rationality poses mimesis as productive of an articulate, affective binding effect in communication. Properly understood, Habermas’ theory must be viewed not as rationalist, but as an attempt to close the gap within the classical debate between philosophy and poetry, articulating a new field of post-metaphysical thinking and action. Simply put, communicative action is a sublation of mimesis and reason; our affectual bonds take articulate form in and as shared experience. The operation of communicative mimesis, therefore, undercuts Habermas’ claims for discourse ethics, because the testing procedures of validation prove external, not internal, to the experience of understanding. Legitimacy in the modern age, therefore, does not find justification by working out Habermas’ theory of communicative action, though his theory of communication does account for the bonding effect borne of agreement.

My text introduces (chapter 1) generally the themes of reason and mimesis in political philosophy and critical theory. I then develop my reconstruction of communicative rationality over three main chapters concerning Habermas’ appropriation of Platonic mimesis (chapter 2), George Herbert Mead’s account of mimetic identity-formation (chapter 3), and Walter Benjamin’s account of the mimetic experience of language (chapter 4) . My project contributes to contemporary debates in normative political philosophy at the intersection of democratic theory, moral theory and aesthetic theory.
email: ggmiller@u.washington.edu



Christi Siver
Fields: International Relations, Comparative Politics, Political Theory
PhD Completed Summer 2009
Dissertation: The Dark Side of the Band of Brothers: Explaining Unit Variation in War Crimes
Committee: Elizabeth Kier, Jonathan Mercer, Jason Mayerfeld, Aseem Prakash, Anthony Gill

My dissertation, “The Dark Side of the Band of Brothers: Explaining Unit Participation in War Crimes,” explores how states internally comply with international legal obligations, specifically how states ensure that their soldiers abide by customary laws of war. I ask why some units participate in war crimes when other units facing similar circumstances do not. I test three explanations: military socialization, civilian influence, and unit subculture. First, I test whether the military both adequately instructs soldiers about the laws of war and consistently punishes soldiers who violate them. Second, I look at the role of civilian leaders; policy-makers may exaggerate the nature of the conflict or dehumanize the enemy, and this rhetoric may persuade units that the laws of war do not apply. Third, I examine unit subcultures. If a unit’s culture challenges the norms of the larger organization, this counter-culture may encourage the unit to reject organizational restrictions, use excessive force, and participate in war crimes.

I examined three conflicts: the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, and the Canadian peacekeeping mission in Somalia. Within each conflict, I looked at units that did and did not participate in war crimes. After extensive archival research in the United States and the United Kingdom, I found that the quality of junior leadership best explains why some units participate in war crimes while others do not. The American, British, and Canadian militaries all had only minimal training programs in the laws of war, and senior leadership sent conflicting signals about its commitment to those laws. Civilian rhetoric had little effect on units in the field. Instead, I discovered that civilian inattention seemed more important as it tended to lessen unit morale and commitment to the mission. But what was critical was junior leadership – both positively and negatively. Junior leaders who controlled their units also enforced the laws of war. However, when junior leaders resented their mission or were too weak to control the unit, participation in war crimes was more likely.
email: chsiver@u.washington.edu
CV: http://www.polisci.washington.edu/Directory/Students/Grad_CV/2009-SiverCV-1.pdf
website: http://staff.washington.edu/chsiver/ChristiSiver.html

John Ahlquist
Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
UCLA; Post-doctoral fellow

Ceren Belge
Academy for International and Area studies
Harvard University; Post-doctoral fellow (2008-2010)

Xun Cao
International Relations, Political Economy
Department of Government
University of Essex, UK; Lecturer (Assistant Professor)

Rose Ernst
Political Science
Seattle University; Assistant Professor, tenure track

Devin Joshi
Graduate School of International Studies
University of Denver; Assistant Professor, tenure track

Vince Jungkunz
Political Science
Ohio University; Assistant Professor, tenure track

Min-hyung Kim
Political Science
Hobart and William Smith Colleges; Visiting Assistant Professor

Erik Lundsgaarde
Bi- and Multilateral Development Cooperation
German Development Institute; Research fellow

Mellissa Merry
Political Science
Pacific Lutheran University; Visiting Assistant Professor

Michael Strausz
Political Science
Texas Christian University; Assistant Professor, tenure track

Political Science Placement Record 2006-2007

Umut Aydin
International Relations, Comparative Politics
Bogazici University, Turkey, tenure-track position (Autumn 2008); Postdoctoral Fellow, European University Institute, Florence (Autumn 2007)

Kristen Bakke
Comparative Politics, International Relations
University College London, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations (Autumn 2009)
Leiden University, Netherlands, Assistant Professor (Autumn 2008); Postdoctoral Fellow, Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs, Harvard (2007-2008)

Graeme Boushey
American Politics, Public Policy Processes
San Francisco State, tenure track position (Autumn 2007)

Christian Breunig
Political Economy, Comparative Politics
University of Toronto, tenure-track position (Autumn 2008); Postdoctoral Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Studies of Societies, Cologne, Germany (Autumn 2007)

Stephanie Burkhalter
Political Theory, American Politics and Political Communication
Humboldt State University, tenure-track position (Autumn 2007)

Xun Cao
International Relations, Political Economy
Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton (Autumn 2007)

Rose Ernst
American Politics, Public Law .
Seattle University, Visiting Assistant Professor (two-year appointment, Autumn 2007)

Lisa Glidden
Comparative Politics, Latin Am. Studies
State University of New York, Oswego, tenure-track position (Autumn 2007)

Iza Hussin
Public Law, Comparative Politics, SE Asia/Middle East
University of Massachusets, tenure-track position (Autumn 2008); Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard (Autumn 2007)

Chris Koski
Public Policy, American Politics
James Madison, tenure-track position (Autumn 2007)

Terence Lee
International Relations, SE Asian Politics, Comparative Politics
Nanyang Technological University, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore (3-year appointment autumn 2007). Postdoctoral Fellow, Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University (Autumn 2006)

Ying Lin
China, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
Offer: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, tenure track position

Glenn Mackin
Political Theory, Public Law
Eastman School of Music, Assistant Professor (Autumn 2007)

Brian Mello
Comparative Politics, Political Theories, Social Movements
Muhlenberg College, tenure track position (Autumn 2007)

Anthony Pezzola
Comparative Politics, International Political Economy
Pontificia Universidad, Chile, Assistant Professor (Autumn 2007); Reed College, Visiting Assistant Professor (Autumn 2006)

Political Science Placement Record 2005-2006

Wongi Choe
Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, Korea (Autumn 2006). University of Oklahoma, School of International and Area Studies, Visiting Assistant Professor (2005-2006)

Robert Farley
Patterson School of Diplomacy, University of Kentucky, tenure-track position (Autumn 2006). Doctoral Fellow, Patterson School of Commerce and International Diplomacy, University of Kentucky (Autumn 2005). Lecturer, University of Washington, Department of Political Science (Autumn 2004)

Ahmet Kuru
San Diego State University, tenure-track position (Autumn 2006). Other offers: Iowa State, and Dickinson College. Other interviews: Cornell, University of Arizona, Villanova, and interview declined at Colorado State University

Heather Larsen
University of Memphis, tenure-track position (Autumn 2006). Other offers: University of Mississippi, and Albright College. Other Interviews: University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, Southern Illinois University, Wesleyan, and interview declined at Temple University

Terence Lee
Postdoctoral Fellow, Olin Institute for Strategic Studies, Harvard University (Autumn 2006)

Adam Luedtke
University of Utah, tenure-track position (Autumn 2006). Other interview: Miami University (Ohio)

Brian Mello
Seattle University, Department of Political Science, Core Lecturer (Autumn 2005 and Autumn 2006)

Anthony Pezzola
Reed College, Visiting Assistant Professor (Autumn 2006). Other offer: School of Economics and Social Sciences, Singapore Management University. Interview: Georgia State University

Ki-young Shin
Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Ochanomizu University (Autumn 2006). Other interview: Georgetown University

Political Science Placement Record 2004-2005

Lauren Basson
Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Politics and Government, tenure-track position (Autumn 2005)

Betsi Beem
University of Sydney, Australia, Lecturer (Autumn 2005)

Wongi Choi
University of Oklahoma, School of International and Area Studies, Visiting Assistant Professor

Robert Farley
Postdoctoral Fellow, Patterson School of Commerce and International Diplomacy, University of Kentucky (Autumn 2005). Lecturer, University of Washington, Department of Political Science (Autumn 2004)

Turan Kayaoglu
University of Washington, Tacoma, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, tenure-track position (Autumn 2005)

Cricket Keating
Ohio State, Women’s Studies, tenure-track position (Autumn 2005). Sienna College, tenure-track position (Autumn 2004). Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership and the Department of Political Science, St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana (2002-2004)

Yoshi Nishizaki
Postdoctoral Fellow, National University of Singapore (Spring 2005)

Katherine Stenger
Gustavus Adolphus College, tenure-track position (Autumn 2005)

Michael Xeno
University of Wisconsin – Madison, Department of Communication Arts, tenure-track position (Autumn 2005). Other interview: Ohio State

Political Science Placement Record 2002-2003 and 2003-2004

Carlo Bonura
University of Puget Sound, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)

Jamie Davidson
Research Fellow, Von Vollenhoven Institute, Leiden University (Autumn 2004 -2007); Postdoctoral Fellow, Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (January 03)

Jeffrey Dudas
University of Connecticut, tenure-track position (Autumn 2004). University of Alabama, tenure-track position (2003-2004)

Deborah Elms
Offer: Institute for Defense and Security Studies (Singapore), February, 2005

T. Jens Feele
NASA Headquarters, Science Directorate, Arlington, Virginia (July 2004)

Christine Keating
Sienna College, tenure-track position (autumn 2004). Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership and the Department of Political Science, St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana (2002-2004)

Scott Lemieux
Hunter College, tenure-track position (Autumn 2004)

Kimberley Manning
Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for East Asian Studies, Stanford University (2003-2004); Concordia University, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)

Gregory Miller
Western Washington University, Visiting Assistant Professor (Autumn 2004). Lewis & Clark College, Visiting Instructor (2003-2004)

Tamir Moustafa
University of Wisconsin, Madison, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)

Mary Alice Pickert
Wesleyan, tenure-track position (Autumn 04). Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Academy for International Studies (2003-2005)

Claire Rasmussen
University of Delaware, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)

Benjamin Smith
Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Academy for International Studies (2002-2004). University of Florida, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)

Robert Wood
University of North Dakota, tenure-track position (Autumn 2003)