Summer Research College 2009

Ethnic Conflict and Civil War
Professor Jim Fearon (jfearon@stanford.edu) and Professor David Laitin (dlaitin@stanford.edu)

We seek undergraduate RAs to work with us on two projects.

(1) Updating and finalizing a cross-national dataset on civil war that we will use in the final analyses for our book project on the causes of civil war since 1945.

(2)  Working on collecting cross-national data on coup incidence, army size, and military spending for some new analyses for the same project.

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Understanding How Voters Decide Which Candidate to Support: An Exploration in Political Psychology
Jon Krosnick (krosnick@stanford.edu)

Political psychology is an exciting interdisciplinary enterprise blending psychology with the study of politics.  One of the most fruitful research enterprises in political psychology has been the study of voter decision-making.  A great deal of research during the last 6 decades has taken scientific approaches to identifying the social and psychological factors that affect which candidate a citizen chooses to vote for and the citizen's decision about whether to vote or not.  This research project will gather and review that literature in order to understand what we know and do not yet know about why people vote as they do and therefore to gauge the health of American democracy and its potential to be a workable form of government over the long haul. Your role will be to join a team of graduate and undergraduate students working with Professor Jon Krosnick (Professor of Communication, Political Science, and Psychology) to gather, read, discuss, and summarize this literature.  No special background is necessary, although comfort with mathematical/statistical write-ups would be helpful when reading some of the articles.  This job is just right for students interested in close collaboration with a faculty member and a fun and challenging summer.

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User Interface Design for Elections and Campaign Finance Data
Professor Jonathan Wand (wand@stanford.edu)

I seek a student to help design and implement a new method for researchers to access and update a new, large electronic database of campaign finance and elections data.

Goal is an extensible web browser interface for an underlying SQL database (currently PostgreSQL).

Knowledge of SQL and one or more scripting languages required.

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Database, Record Linkage, and GIS Research for Campaign Finance Data
Professor Jonathan Wand (wand@stanford.edu)

I seek a student to help implement an infrastructure for
- matching records within an SQL database with non-exact entries
  (name, addresses, employers)
- combining data with other GIS based datasets

Knowledge of SQL, C, and one or more scripting languages desired.

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The Partisan Representation of the Poor
Professor Karen Jusko (kljusko@stanford.edu)

When will political parties seek the support of low-income citizens as their primary basis of electoral support?  The proposed research will address this question in the broadly comparative context of contemporary developed democracies during the period of industrialization and suffrage expansion.  Specifically, this research will examine how the electoral geography of European and North American countries during this period shaped incentives for workers’ and social democratic parties to contest elections.

Interested applicants should demonstrate good data management and library research skills, and should have successfully completed coursework in the Department of Political Science.  Although not required, applicants with ArcGIS software experience are especially encouraged to apply for this position. 

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The Resolution of Violent Interstate Conflict
Professor Kenneth Schultz (kschultz@stanford.edu)

Research assistance is needed for a project on the resolution of violent interstate conflicts. The project seeks to answer two key questions: (1) what conditions make it possible for rival states to reach agreements aimed at settling their disputes, and (2) why do some agreements succeed at preventing renewed conflict while others fail?  To address these questions, the research assistant(s) will help to compile several databases on (1) agreements between states that have experienced violent conflict, (2) the political conditions within rival states, and (3) episodes of militarized conflict between states.  In addition, assistance is needed in researching and writing case histories of specific episodes of attempted conflict resolution.  Applicants should have strong library research skills and familiarity with spreadsheets (e.g., Excel) and/or statistical programs.  Foreign language skills would be useful but are not required.

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Happiness and Retrospective Voting
Professor Neil Malhotra (Malhotra_Neil@GSB.stanford.edu)

Political scientists have long noted that citizens consider the performance of the national economy when deciding whether to reelect incumbent politicians. This project assesses whether retrospective voting is partly due to how voters are personally feeling on Election Day, as opposed to a rational calculation based on economic evidence. We consider two natural experiments to assess the impact of happiness on voting that has nothing to do with the performance of government: (1) whether the result of the college football game on the weekend before the election affects the incumbent party’s vote share; and (2) whether cloud cover on Election Day affects mood and therefore the fortunes of the incumbent party. I will be working closely with the research assistant in a mentoring relationship on this and potentially other projects. The primary responsibilities include: (1) data collection, manipulation, and analysis; and (2) reading and summarizing articles for a literature review on the psychology of happiness. We will also be designing and conducting a survey of American adults with which the student can assist. Familiarity of Excel would be great, but attention to detail and diligence is most important. Finally, given that I am a professor in the Graduate School of Business, students who are interested in both business and politics would be especially well-suited for the project.

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The Logic of Random Selection
Professor Peter Stone (peter.stone@stanford.edu)

Research assistant will work with professor on research projects relating to the role of random selection in decision-making. These projects include a book, an edited volume, and a review essay. Work for the student will involve answering questions raised by these projects. This may include, among other tasks, 1) tracking down source materials on lotteries from a variety of fields, including political science, philosophy, economics, sociology, psychology, and law; 2) preparing regular reports on assembled materials; and 3) generalized “fact-checking.” Some background in political theory (at least one course) desired, as well as good writing and research skills.

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The Political Economy of Energy Efficiency
Professor Phillip Lipscy (lipscy@stanfor.edu)

The Research Assistant will work with Professor Phillip Lipscy (Political Science) as well as Ben Self and Daniel Sneider (Shorenstein Asia/Pacific Research Center) on a project related to the politics of energy.
Some of the questions we seek to answer: 1. What explains the cross-national variation in energy efficiency and energy policies across countries?; 2. What explains the variation in willingness of states to pursue energy-related foreign policy initiatives, e.g. multilateral cooperation on climate change, foreign aid targeted towards enhancing energy efficiency, etc.; 3. What are the implications of energy scarcity on the international relations of broader East Asia.

The primary tasks for the RA are: 1. Collect data on key cross-national measures such as CO2 emissions, gasoline taxes, fuel subsidies, energy intensity, etc.; 2. Case study research on energy policies in select countries; 3. Assist in preparation for a research presentation at a major international conference in Kyoto in September. 
Any of the following would be helpful but are not required: prior experience with data collection and familiarity with spreadsheet or database programs; prior coursework in political science and economics; foreign language proficiency in Japanese or Chinese.

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Democracy and Disarmament
Professor Scott D. Sagan (ssagan@stanford.edu)

Professor Scott D. Sagan is looking for a summer research assistant for his “Democracy and Disarmament” project.  The project seeks to understand whether democracies are more or less likely to end nuclear weapons programs once they are started, and, if so, why this is the case.  Students will assist with three aspects of the project: 1) review the accuracy and update the existing data sets on national nuclear programs (utilizing earlier published data sets by Chris Way and Harald Mueller); 2) research and write up brief case-studies of some of the nuclear weapons programs that have not been studied thoroughly (Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan etc.); and 3) help with the statistical and comparative historical analysis.  Students should plan on working 40 hours a week for 9-10 weeks during the summer, producing weekly research reports, meeting once or twice with Professor Sagan and attending the PS/IR summer research college luncheons.  Preference given to students who have taken (or are taking) one or more of the following courses: PS 1 (Introduction to International Relations); PS 114S (International Security in a Changing World); PS 110D (War and Peace in American Foreign Policy); or MS&E 193 (Technology and National Security).   

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Racialized Imagery in Campaign Advertising:  The Case of the 2008 Campaign
Professor Shanto Iyengar

The student RA will be responsible for developing a database of over 600 still images of Sen. Obama that were used during the 2008 campaign.  Each image will be input into a computer-based system that records color, darkness, and saturation of the image.  Applicants need to be familiar with image-editing software packages such as GIMP and/or Adobe Photoshop.  Past experience or course work in film and/or photography a plus.  Familiarity with the R statistical programming language also a plus.

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Comparative Study of Immigration Policy
Professor Judith Goldstein (judy@stanford.edu)

Immigration has been a contentious issue in American politics; some commentators have said that we have an immigration crisis.  Yet, reform of immigration policy has been stymied.  This project looks to better understand why reform is so hard to achieve in today’s environment. The goal of the project is to create the first comprehensive longitudinal and comparative dataset on immigration policies. Students will research and then help code legislation as well as data on immigration flows – another key measure of openness to immigration. Throughout the summer, the student will learn about how scholarly research is conducted – from the development of a question through the collection of data and finally the testing of hypotheses.   

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Ethical Consumption: Understanding How and When American Values Predict Market Behavior
Professor Judith Goldstein (judy@stanford.edu)

This project examines the conditions under which domestic consumption values, such as buying fairly traded coffee or products made by individuals abroad who are paid a living wage, influences America’s consumption and therefore, US trade policy.  Three surveys have been conducted over the last 2 years that attempt to calibrate if and when American consumers will use production method as part of their calculation of what to buy. The student working on this project will research cases of ‘consumer cartels’ and how the WTO has dealt with nations using domestic consumer issues as reason for trade protectionism as well as analyze the data from these earlier surveys.

Student Responsibility:
Students working on either project will work closely with professor and graduate students involved in each project. They are expected to work at least 8 weeks on campus. Work will be a combination of library research, data coding and data analysis.

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Maps and Elections in Europe and North America
Professor Jonathan Rodden (jrodden@stanford.edu)

Professor Rodden is looking for a student to continue a project collecting historical census information from Europe and North America on occupation, income, and industry, and combining these data with election results using Geographic Information Systems.  The student will learn to use ArcGIS and other mapping software early in the summer, and will spend most of the summer digitizing historical maps and beginning to analyze the data.

Some of the substantive themes to be examined include 1) districting, apportionment, and gerrymandering, and their impact on elections and policies, 2) the geographic concentration of support for left-wing parties associated with industrialization and urbanization, 3) the choice of electoral rules in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and 4) the political implications of suburbanization and the evolution of urban form in different countries.

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Ethnic cleansing during the Partition of India (1947)
Saumitra Jha (jha_saumitra@gsb.stanford.edu)

This position includes archival work and organizing, matching and analyzing large datasets of census and secret colonial documents. Some proficiency with Excel and Stata and an interest in Indian history are desirable.

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Stockmarkets and political development in 17th century England
Saumitra Jha (jha_saumitra@gsb.stanford.edu)

The job description involves archival work, reading the biographies of members of parliament, data entry and analysis.

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New Politics of Non-White America
Professor Gary Segura (segura@stanford.edu)

Professor Gary Segura seeks an undergraduate Research Assistant for the Summer of 2009.  The student will participate in a program of research focused on the political and electoral behavior of Latinos, African Americans, and other minority citizens in comparison to that of non-Hispanic whites.  We will devote specific attention to questions of partisanship and vote choice, the role of minority citizens in the Democratic coalition, minority perceptions of the Republican party, minority orientations toward government in general, and the role of socio-economic diversity in conditioning these responses.

The Research Assistant will be responsible for three types of work: archival and bibliographic work identifying and summarizing relevant contributions to the scientific literature; data collection from publically available sources looking at partisan and ethnic compositions of electorates and legislatures; and data manipulation and presentation through the development of tables, charts, and figures as directed.

The successful applicant should have completed one or more courses in either political behavior or minority politics, be comfortable with the collection and manipulation of numerical data, and be proficient in the use of Microsoft Excel and especially the graphic and chart features.  While not specifically required, the completion of one or more classes in basic statistical methods and/or familiarity with basic data analysis is desired.

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“Political Ambiguity” and “Sovereign Theft”
Mike Tomz (tomz@stanford.edu)

Professor Tomz is looking for students who would like to participate in one or both of the following projects.
The first project, “Political Ambiguity,” examines when candidates have used strategies of ambiguity during political campaigns and how strategies of ambiguity affect the preferences of voters.
The second project, “Sovereign Theft," investigates why governments sometimes expropriate foreign direct investments, and it estimates the consequences of this kind of behavior. Students who join these projects will learn how to collect and analyze many types of data, including public opinion polls, campaign speeches, newspaper articles, and business records.

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I. Ethics, Public Policy and Philanthropy
Rob Reich (reich@stanford.edu)

Surprisingly little has been written from a normative perspective about the institutional arrangements that structure and support philanthropy and nonprofits.  Philosophers and political theorists have written about the nature of altruism (is altruism reconcilable with self-interest?; how would evolutionary theory explain altruistic behavior?) and about the very compatibility of philanthropy and social justice (would there be any place for charity in a society that had achieved full social justice?).  But questions about whether and how a state should regulate charitable giving and the operation of nonprofits have been almost exclusively the province, to date, of economists.  Economists ask whether the provision of tax incentives changes the amount of charitable giving, what the optimal level of tax incentives would be, and how to overcome the problem of free riders when private giving generates public goods.  While political theorists have written widely on the various components of what Rawls calls the “basic structure” of society – political, economic, and social institutions – to which principles of justice are to apply, they have ignored private activity in the public interest, a phenomenon that in modern societies, especially in the United States, is a significant part of political, economic, and social institutions.

This inquiry seeks to articulate and defend principles that ought to guide public policy concerning philanthropy.  What kind of incentives, disincentives, mandates, and prohibitions ought a liberal democratic state put in place to regulate private activity in the public interest?

In previous summers, I have hired undergraduate students to work with me on researching the scope of the nonprofit sector in the United States, the governance of the sector and the public policies which provide subsidies to it, and comparing the scope of the US sector with other countries.

II.  Equality and Adequacy in the K-12 Schooling

The landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education announced: “Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. Compulsory school attendance laws and the great expenditures for education both demonstrate our recognition of the importance of education to our democratic society.”  More than fifty years after Brown, education is of even greater significance.  Education plays a highly consequential role in shaping a person’s capabilities, opportunities, lifelong income, and general life prospects.

That the state must provide education at the K-12 levels is today a foregone conclusion, both as a matter of political ethics and as a matter of politics.  But what normative framework should guide the provision of K-12 education?  This book examines two possible ideals to guide such provision, equal provision and adequate provision.

The motivation for this analysis is inspired by real-world changes.  In the years following Brown, congressional and judicial policymaking focused on creating greater equality of educational opportunity for racial minority and poor children.  These efforts, tying together the fortunes of poor and privileged children and directing resources to the disadvantaged, continued at least through the 1973 San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez decision and state-level “equity” finance litigation.  In the past twenty years, however, the rhetoric and policy of providing equal educational opportunity has given way to the rhetoric and policy of providing an adequate education to all. Rooted in political pragmatism, legal-doctrinal constraints, and a desire to move the debate from an educational input orientation (e.g., per pupil expenditures, teacher quality, etc.) to an educational output orientation (e.g., standardized test scores, graduation rates, etc.), this paradigm shift has been so pervasive that virtually all modern “school finance” litigation—which frequently aims to reform entire school systems—is labeled “adequacy” litigation.

Which orientation is better, equality or adequacy?  Which has had better effects on educational policy and outcomes?  What is the consequence of leaving equality behind?

OVERVIEW
This summer I seek to hire an undergraduate research assistant capable of contributing to both projects.  Previous coursework in political theory required, coursework in education or education policy highly desirable, and familiarity with STATA, MS Excel, and website design desirable.