Comparative PoliticsPlacement Candidates |
View Candidates by FieldAmerican Politics |
PETER BAKER (Ph.D. expected 2008)
Peter Baker received a B.A. in Political Science from Olivet Nazarene University in 1997. He entered the doctoral program in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame in 1998. He received his Master’s Degree in Political Science in 2002.
His research interests focus mainly in the field of comparative politics, with an empirical concentration on post-Soviet states. His dissertation, written under the supervision of Professor Andrew Gould, explores the relationship between modernization and democratization as it relates to post-Soviet state building in Ukraine. The project examines the structural and operational changes made within three governmental bodies involved in the design, authorization, and/or implementation of tax policies in order to assess how and why the character and quality of democratization may vary over time across multiple policy bodies within a single political system. Peter has conducted over two years of field research in Ukraine in support of his dissertation. His research has been financially supported by fellowships granted by the U.S. State Department’s “National Security Education Program” and the Kellogg Institute. In addition to his academic research, Peter also served as Vice-President (1999-2000) and President (2000-2001) of the Political Science Graduate Student Organization. In 2001, he was awarded the “Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award for Excellence in Teaching” by the University of Notre Dame’s Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning.
Curriculum Vitae
Kate Nicholls (August 2007)
Kate Nicholls entered Notre Dame’s Political Science program in 2001, after receiving undergraduate and Masters’ degrees from the University of Auckland (New Zealand), with a major concentration in comparative politics and a minor one in political theory. Her research interests include the study of democratization and democratic consolidation, comparative political economy, theories of the modern capitalist state, the impact of European integration on peripheral EU member states, and the economic and social developmental strategies of small countries. She is particularly interested in the way in which states channel and mediate between societal interests in times of political and economic transformation, with her dissertation, entitled “Europeanizing responses to labor market challenges in Greece, Ireland and Portugal: The importance of consultative and incorporative policy-making”, cross-cutting the sub-disciplines of comparative politics and policy studies in order to speak to this theme. In addition to a co-authored book, Labor Politics in Small Open Democracies: Australia, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand and Uruguay (2003), she has published previously in West European Politics, Government and Opposition, and Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. Kate has taught courses in comparative politics, political economy and political sociology, and has a specific long-term interest in teaching a new generation of graduate students about qualitative and comparative methods.
Curriculum Vitae
PATRICIA M. RODRIGUEZ (Ph.D. Expected May 2008)
Patricia is currently working on the second and third chapter of her dissertation, entitled “Social Movement-Political Elite Interaction in the Making of Agrarian Policy in Brazil, Chile, and Ecuador: 1990-2003,” under the direction of Prof. Michael Coppedge. The dissertation deals with an issue that few social movement scholars and political scientists have systematically addressed, namely the policy impact of peasant and ethnic group mobilization in comparative perspective. Using a combination of time-series quantitative data analysis and qualitative data, the dissertation examines the negotiating process between social movement leaders and political party and government representatives during the process of formation of public policies over a period of thirteen years in the three countries. It aims at an understanding of why and how movement leaders make the decisions that they do, how these decisions become (or fail to become) a threat to authorities and other affected actors, and the consequences of this interaction. The project has been funded through fellowships such as an NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant and Notre Dame’s Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning Pre-Doctoral Fellowship 2006-2007. In Spring 2007, she will teach a class on social mobilization in Latin America at the University of California, Santa Barbara, under the mentorship of UCSB Prof. Kathleen Bruhn. Patricia has particular interest in teaching future courses on the causes and consequences of democratization, Latin American political systems and political developments, ethnic conflict and politics, environmental politics, and U.S.-Latin American relations, as well as general introductory courses in comparative politics and international relations.
Curriculum Vitae