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Department of Political Science

Faculty and Staff

The following is a brief overview of faculty research and teaching interests.

Interested in the implications of our research? Click on our Faculty Top 5 List

Dr. Candace Archer Assistant Professor Ph.D. University of Delaware International Relations 120 Williams Hall carcher@bgsu.edu 419-372-6860	Dr. Archer's research is in the area of International Political Economy and International Organizations. Specifically her work focuses on global financial issues, global financial crises and international financial organizations such as the IMF. Dr. Archer's recent academic work has examined the interactions between global credit rating agencies and developing countries. In 2005 she received an American Political Science Association small research grant to study this relationship, has presented several conference papers on the subject and has an article in International Organization entitled, " Democratic Advantage: Does Regime Type Affect Credit Rating Agency Ratings in the Developing World?" (with Glen Biglaiser and Karl DeRouen). In addition she continues her work on the occurrence of and responses to global financial crisis and is currently researching the global housing boom.
Dr. D.S. Chauhan Professor Ph.D. Lucknow (India) Public Administration 121 Williams Hall chauhan@bgsu.edu 419-372-6009 website	Dr. Chauhan's research interests in public administration include human resources management, public labor relations, and administrative theory. He is the author of, "Managing Mutual Commitments and Expectations: Contract Administration in Public Labor Relations," in Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, "Labor Management Rights and Responsibilities," in Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Enhancing the Management Capacity Through Public Policy Analysis: Development, Effectuation and Evaluation of Public Policy”, published by the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration and the U.S. Educational Foundation in Sri Lanka, Colombo, and Public Labor Relations: A Comparative State Study part of the Administrative and Policy Studies Series, Sage Publications. He has recently given presentations to the National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (Mumbai), the Armenian National Assembly, Republic of Armenia, Yerevan, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
Dr. Albert Dzur Associate Professor/Undergraduate Adviser Ph.D. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Political Theory 111 Williams Hall awdzur@bgsu.edu 419-372-7270	Dr Albert Dzur's research focuses on the value of lay participation in the professionalized and expert domains that impact public affairs. He is interested in how collaboration helps bridge the distance between professionals and the communities they serve, encourages mutual trust, develops skills and builds networks for communication. Dr. Dzur's concept of "democratic professionalism" points to the importance of sharing previously professionalized tasks in ways that both enable and enhance broader public engagement and deliberation about major social issues like crime and punishment.He is currently finishing a book on democratic professionalism movements in criminal justice, journalism and medicine. He has published in journals such as The Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Law and Society Review, Policy Sciences, Polity: The Journal of the Northeastern Political Science Association, Journal of Health Politics and Policy and Law.
Dr. Neil Englehart Assistant Professor Ph.D. UC San Diego Comparative Politics neile@bgsu.edu 419-372-2923.	Dr. Neil Englehart does research in the area of human rights. He has held a number of prestigious grants and fellowships including an Andrew J. Mellon Foundation grant for collaborative research on comparative colonialism as well as a Post-doctoral fellowship, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship, A Fulbright Fellowship for research in Thailand, and a Southeast Asian Studies Summer Institute Scholarship. Dr. Englehart has published extensively in journals such as International Political Science Review, Social Forces, Asian Survey, Dissents and Human Rights Quarterly.
Dr. Dion Farganis Assistant Professor Ph.D. University of Minnesota Public Law 116 Williams Hall email: fargard@bgsu.edu 419-372-7416	Dr. Dion Farganis is an Assistant Professor of Political Science Expertise: American government, including judicial system, Supreme Court, public law, federalism, civil rights, constitutional theory, and American political thought. Credentials: Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from University of Minnesota; B.A. in political science from Vassar College.
Mr. Jack Ford Practitioner in Residence Public Administration/American Government jmford@bgsu.edu 419-372-9539	Coming Soon
Dr. David Jackson Associate Professor/Undergraduate Adviser Ph.D. Wayne State University American Government 107 Williams Hall jacksod@bgsu.edu 419-372-2922	David J. Jackson earned his Ph.D. from Wayne State University in Detroit in 1999. His major research interest is the relationship between entertainment and politics. Specifically, he examines connections between media use habits and political beliefs among the English-speaking young adult populations of the United States and Canada. His other research interests include organized labor's political activity in the U.S. and U.S. trade policy. Jackson is the author of Entertainment and Politics: The Influence of Pop Culture in Young Adult Political Socialization (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2002), and articles in such scholarly journals as Political Research Quarterly, Polish American Studies, American Politics Research, and Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics. Jackson teaches courses on U.S. Politics, Research Methods, American Political Thought, Politics and Mass Media, and Canadian Government. He is a Gemini.
Dr. Neal Jesse Associate Professor/Department Chair Ph.D. UCLA Comparative Politics 117 Williams Hall njesse@bgsu.edu 419-372-7266 website	Dr. Neal Jesse's research interests include British and Irish Politics, Electoral Studies, Ethnic Conflict, Game theory and Formal Theory. He is the co-author of Identities and Institutions: Conflict Reduction in Divided Societies (SUNY Press 2005), and has published in journals such as International Political Science Review, Journal of Public Policy, International Studies Quarterly, Political Psychology, Representation, Electoral Studies and Political Research Quarterly. For the 2006-2007 academic year he is the Hallsworth Visiting Professor and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Manchester.
Dr. Frank McKenna Associate Professor (Ph.D. Maryland) Public Administration 118 Williams Hall mckenna@bgsu.edu 419-372-7273l website	Dr. Frank McKenna's research and teaching interests are in the areas of public administration, state and local government, and rural and small local government. He is the co-author of “Methods for Assessing Productivity and Management in Local Government,” in Public Productivity and Management Review, Complexity, Management and Change“National Fiscal Policy Changes and the Impact of Rural Local Government,” in Public Administration Quarterly.
Dr. Melissa Miller Assistant Professor Ph.D. Northwestern American Government 122 Williams Hall melissm@bgsu.edu 419-372-2924	Dr. Melissa Millers' research is on Political participation in the United States including 1) influences of organizational activity on political participation, including acts such as voting, contributing to campaigns, volunteering for campaigns, and engaging in community problem-solving; 2) differential effects of organizational experience based on gender, race, and class, and contributions of organized group activity to entrenched biases in political participation. She also has a research interest in the measurement of political knowledge and how question wording effects differential knowledge levels. Dr. Miller has had experience on several large-scale evaluations of welfare-to-work programs in the U. K., including Labour’s New Deal for Lone Parents and Employment Zones. In the U.S., she was a consultant on the evaluation of several U.S. Department of Education initiatives.
Dr. Shannon Orr Assistant Professor/Graduate Coordinator Ph.D. Wayne State Public Policy/Environmental Politics 110 Williams Hall skorr@bgsu.edu 419-372-7593	Dr. Shannon Orr works in the area of environmental policy with particular attention to the tension among competing interests in the policy formation process. Her research includes the areas of national parks policy and climate change negotiations at the United Nations. She has published research in Policy Studies Journal, PS: Political Science and Politics, State and Local Government Review, American Review of Politics, International Journal of Politics and Ethics and State Politics and Policy Quarterly.
Becky Paskvan Departmental Secretary 124 Williams Hall lbecky@bgsu.edu 419-372-2921	Becky Lentz-Paskvan serves as the Administrative Secretary for the department. Becky has been with BGSU for 22 years in various capacities on campus. She was involved with the Food Operations Dept., Student Recreation Center and the Student Life Office prior to coming to work for the department. Becky has been with the department now for 13 years and has enjoyed the challenges of working with the professors of Political Science.
Dr. Jeff Peake Associate Professor Ph.D. Texas A&M American Government 119 Williams Hall jpeake@bgsu.edu 419-372-8194 website	Dr. Jeff Peake's research focuses on the Presidency. More specifically, his research has addressed questions related to presidential-congressional relations, presidents, and the media, and the foreign policy process. He is currently finishing a book, entitled Treaty Politics and the Rise of Executive Agreements (co-authored with Glen Krutz) and is working on a project analyzing media coverage of the 2008 presidential election, with Dr. Melissa Miller. He has published his research in American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, Political Communication, American Politics Research, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and other peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Scott Piroth Lecturer Ph.D. American Comparative Politics 112 Williams Hall spiroth@bgsu.edu 419-372-7268	Scott Piroth teaches in both the Political Science department and the Canadian Studies Center. His research focus is nationalism in Quebec – examining both the reasons why Quebecers support or oppose a sovereign Quebec and the factors that influence opinions toward Quebec among Canadians in the rest of Canada. Scott has recently published articles on the subject in Nationalism, Ethnic Politics, Québec Studies.
Dr. Marc Simon Associate Professor Ph.D. Indiana International Relations 123 Williams Hall msimon@bgsu.edu 419-372-7386	Dr. Simon's research focuses on international and domestic conflict processes and conflict resolution. His published work has examined war, revolution, economic sanctions, environmental policy and techniques of conflict resolution. His articles have appeared in Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Interactions, Journal of Environmental Education, Journal of Borderland Studies, International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, Journal of Conflict Resolution, International Interactions and Environment and Planning.
Dr. Tom Wiseman Instructor Ph.D. Andrews University Public Administration 115 Williams Hall wisemantom@hotmail.com 419-372-7498	Dr. Tom Wiseman is a former mayor of the city of Defiance, OH. In addition to teaching, he provides consultation services on intergovernmental mediation.