Wendy Schiller

Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy:
Political Science
Phone: +1 401 863 1569
Phone 2: +1 401 863 2827
Wendy_Schiller@Brown.EDU

My research focuses on the question of representation in the U.S. Congress. My current work, co-authored with Charles Stewart (MIT) and funded by the National Science Foundation, we examine the political dynamics in the indirect election of U.S. senators in state legislatures (1871-1913). My past publications include Senate agenda setting, public approval, state delegation dynamics, and 19th century Senate behavior. I have also published work on geography, bicameralism, and trade politics.

Biography

A.B. the University of Chicago, legislative staff assistant to Senator Daniel P. Moynihan, legislative assistant to Governor Mario Cuomo, PhD University of Rochester. Fellowships at the Brookings Institution and Princeton University before arriving at Brown in August 1994.

Interests

For over a century of the nation's early history, United States senators were elected by state legislatures. Until the passage of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the first popular senatorial elections in 1914, senatorial elections in the state legislatures forced an intense focus on state electoral politics. Any observer of national politics had to follow state elections in each of (eventually) 48 states and the internal organization of 48 separate state legislatures.

In the Senate Elections Data Project 1871-1913, we have gathered original data from 48 states on legislative rosters, length of service, chamber organization votes, party cohesion, and ballots for U.S. Senators for all Senate election held during that time.
We have a series of preliminary papers that address how effective party majorities were in securing victory for their preferred candidate, how and why conflict erupted over Senate elections leading to extended joint session balloting, and how the bicameral nature of state legislatures played a role in the extent of conflict in these elections. We expect a draft of our book manuscript in Fall 2010.

Awards

Fulbright Award: Spain, Senior Lecturer in American Politics, 2004-2005 (Declined)

Howard Foundation, paid semester leave, 1997-1998

Guest Scholar, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., September 1997-August 1998

Presidential Fellow, Salzburg Seminar, May 1996

Visiting Student, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, September 1993- September 1994

Research Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., September 1992 - September 1993

Affiliations

Editorial Board Member, Congress and the Presidency, 2007-2009

Editorial Board member, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2004-2007

Editorial Board member, Journal of Politics, 2005-2008

Legislative Studies, division chair, American Political Science Association meetings, 2006

Member, 2005 Gladys M. Kammerer Award Committee for the best political science book in the field of U.S. national policy

Legislative Politics section head, Midwest Political Science Association 2002 meetings

American Politics section head, New England Political Science Association 2001 meetings
Secretary-Treasurer, Legislative Studies Section, American Political Science Association 1998-2001

Council member, New England Political Science Association, 1999-2003

Member, 1996 Richard F. Fenno Jr. Prize Committee for best book in legislative politics

Member, Brookings Research Fellow Selection Committee, 1997-1998

Reviewer, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Congress and the Presidency, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, American Politics Quarterly, National Science Foundation, Cambridge University Press, Brookings Institution Press, and Ohio State University Press

Teaching

Introduction to the American Political Process
This course is designed to be an introduction to the American political process, broadly defined. We cover topics including but not limited to: Congress, Media, Interest Groups, Budget, Presidency, Public Opinion, Courts, Bureaucracy, and Agenda Setting.
Students are asked to track elections and incumbent career performance, and analyze them in the context of media, interest group, and executive branch pressures.
2009 enrollment: 107 students.

The American Presidency
This course covers all facets of the American Presidency, including but not limited to: nomination process, general election campaign, cabinet formation, interactions with Congress and the Supreme Court, foreign policy and military actions, communications strategies, major policy initiation, and policy implementation.
2009 enrollment: 252 students.

Philosophy of the Founding Freshman Seminar
This course is designed to explore the ideas and beliefs that served to influence key actors in our nation's founding. The course relies on primary source materials, including the writings of Charles Montesquieu, John Adams, Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Mercy Warren. The course focuses on the expectations underlying the construction of the new American republic and students are asked to assess the relevance and flexibility of our governance structure as it stands today.
2009 enrollment: 17 students.

Topics in American Institutions
A seminar open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates. The course is essentially a survey course of the best work published in the last 2-3 years in the top 4 political science journals. The course is organized around subfields within the larger category of American institutions, e.g. Presidency, state legislatures, interest groups. Students are asked to critique and analyze sophisticated and complex questions, which are answered using advanced quantitative and qualitative methods.
2009 enrollment: 6 students

Congress and Public Policy
This course deals with the internal structure, procedure and politics of the U.S. Congress, congressional elections, minority representation, as well as its relationship with external forces, particularly the President. It covers existing literature on Congress, both the House and the Senate, and assesses current congressional policy making in the context of this literature.

Political and Economic History of Congress
This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive approach to studying the formation of congressional public policy from an economic and geographic viewpoint over time. Topics include trade policy, banking and credit policy, immigration, and civil rights and students are asked to integrate Voteview (roll call voting) and GIS/Arcview to analyze roll call voting in Congress over time. The course traces the development of federal policies in these issues from the early 19th century to the present day.

Funded Research

National Science Foundation (NSF) collaborative research: "The U.S. Senate Election Data Base, 1871-1913," $212,156 (2005-2007); collaborator with Professor Charles Stewart III (MIT), who also received $212, 156 (total grant award $424,312)

Salomon Fund Research Award, Brown University, The Political Geography of Power, 2001-2004; $10,500

Salomon Fund Research Award, Brown University, Cooperation and Competition within Senate Delegations 1997-1999; $6,500

Group Research Project (GRP), Political Geography and Coalition Formation, Brown University; 2001-2002 $5,000

Curriculum Vitae

Download Wendy Schiller's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format