Professor Bickers studies subnational politics and campaigns and elections. He is co-authoring a book that focuses on electoral and mobility options that citizens have for registering discontents over policy performance at the local level, including economic development, public safety, and education, and what this means for the electoral fortunes of local politicians. As part of this project, he is studying the role of race and inequality in shaping local politics. He is also focusing on the determinants of local support for traditional redistributive programs and newer sustainability policies.
keywords
politics, campaigns and elections, electoral turnover and exiting behavior, local politics, distributive and environmental politics
PSCI 2106 - Introduction to Public Policy Analysis
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Fall 2019 / Fall 2021 / Spring 2023
Studies policymaking processes in American government, factors shaping public decision, and issues and questions relevant to political inquiry.
PSCI 3011 - The American Presidency and the Executive Branch
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Spring 2019
Examines the constitutional, institutional and historical development of the presidency and the federal bureaucracy. Explores the changing role of the executive branch in the U.S. political system over time and competing views of executive power.
PSCI 3021 - U.S. Campaigns and Elections
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Summer 2018 / Fall 2018 / Summer 2019 / Spring 2020 / Summer 2020 / Fall 2020 / Summer 2021 / Spring 2022 / Summer 2022 / Fall 2022
Introduces students to the subjects, techniques, and findings of Political Science research on campaigns and elections. Particular emphasis is placed on the study of voting, campaign effects, partisan coalitions, electoral rules, campaign finance, and the policy impact of elections. Recommended prerequisite: PSCI 1101.
PSCI 4715 - Honors Political Science Seminar
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Fall 2023
Involves writing and discussion of selected topics in political science. Critically reviews the major methodological and conceptual features of the discipline. Students begin their honors papers in the seminar. Department enforced prerequisite: minimum 3.3 GPA. Generally offered in fall term only.
PSCI 7126 - Introduction to Public Policy
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Spring 2022
Designed for graduate students specializing in the field of public policy in the political science program. Surveys a wide variety of approaches to the analysis and understanding of public policy. The course is not a survey of any particular set of substantiative policy areas but instead is intended as an examination of the enduring puzzles that analysts of public policy commonly confront, the kinds of research methodologies that they employ, and a selection of the techniques that they bring to bear on their research questions.
PSCI 7151 - American Subnational Politics and Government
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Fall 2018 / Spring 2021 / Spring 2023
Provides a comprehensive overview of the issues and literature concerning American "Subnational" politics. Considers three bodies of literature: American federalism and intergovernmental relations, state politics, and urban/local politics. Also examines a number of policy issues.
