Fiona Rodger

Biography

Fiona is a third-year Ph.D. student in American politics, with her second field being Methodology. Her primary research interest is LGBTQ+ rights—specifically, the study of Americans’ attitudes toward public policies that affect the LGBTQ+ community. She is also interested in gender and politics, as well as political representation and the health of American Democracy.

She aims to examine the relationships between political behavior, public opinion, elite rhetoric, and attitudes toward LGBTQ+ politics and policy. Her goal is to identify key factors that influence voters' formation and change of attitudes on transgender rights issues. Her recent publication in The Forum analyzes the connection between anti-transgender and anti-democratic sentiment after the 2024 election.

She is also a member of the Representation of Women Lab and a coauthor on the lab’s recently published Cambridge Element titled Gender and Local Political Ambition.

Areas of Interest

Political behavior, gender and politics, LGBTQ rights, public opinion, political identity, political communication, political participation, American political institutions, experimental survey design, democratic norms and attitudes

Conference Presentations

“Starving Kids and Selfies: How News on Social Media Trivializes Politics,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, Massachusetts, September 2026.

“Pathbreaker or Underdog? Women’s Ambition for Local Political Office,” European Conference on Politics and Gender, Newcastle, United Kingdom, June 2026.

“The Influence of Framing on Public Support for Transgender Sports Bans”, (Poster Presentation) Keeping the Republic Conference, Notre Dame, Indiana, May 2026.

“The Influence of Framing on Public Support for Transgender Sports Bans”, Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois, April 2026.