Research Specializations

Subfields: American Politics, Comparative Politics, International Relations, Political Thought, Public Policy, Positive Political Theory, Research Methods

Research Specializations: Political Behavior, Political Institutions, African Politics, State and Local Politics, Elections, American Political Thought, Judicial Politics, Civil and International Conflict, Political Culture, Political Economy

 

African Politics

MSU is internationally known as a center of excellence for the study of African Politics.  The on-campus combination of a disciplinary Political Science Department and multi-disciplinary African Studies Center, both nationally ranked, makes MSU a magnet for faculty and students interested in this field.  Five faculty members (Bratton, Bhavnani, Conroy-Krutz, Logan and Stein) have ongoing research projects on politics in Africa covering topics as diverse as democratization, electoral behavior, public opinion, violent conflict, media and communications, traditional leadership, and refugee flows.


State and Local Politics

There has been a global "rediscovery" of state and local government over the past decade. Nations as different as China and the United States have decentralized key elements of public policy. At the same time, political scientists increasingly are utilizing the comparative analytical advantages of the states to test important theories about the impact of context on American politics. The State and Local Politics specialization focuseson understanding the theoretical and practical foundations and operation of state and local governments. The overall goal of the field is to prepare scholars to research, understand, and address state and local governance challenges and to explore theories of politics in a comparative context. Central issues include:

  • The role of state and local governments in the American policy process, particularly in the areas of economic development, education, the environment, health care, homeland security, and social welfare.
  • Alternative structures of local government and intergovernmental relationships
  • Social, economic, political, and cultural policy challenges at the state and local levels
  • Practical management considerations for resolving public policy issues
  • Comparative systems of state and local government
  • Sub-state regionalism
  • Finance, budgeting, and revenue issues at the state and local levels.