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Political Science

D-Index
28
Citations
3877
World Ranking
1378
National Ranking
685

Overview

Thad Kousser is affiliated with the University of California, San Diego in the United States. Their research primarily spans the social sciences, with a marked focus on political science and international relations.

The primary subjects of their work include electoral systems and political participation, social media and politics, social and intergroup psychology, misinformation and its impacts, gender politics and representation, media influence and politics, and studies related to COVID-19 epidemiology.

Frequent publication venues for their work include:

  • Harvard Dataverse
  • California Journal of Politics and Policy
  • Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • American Political Science Review

Kousser's recent papers cover various aspects of political behavior and institutional change. Selected works include:

  • "Laboratories against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics," 2023, Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law
  • "America's electorate is increasingly polarized along partisan lines about voting by mail during the COVID-19 crisis," 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • "Life, Literacy, and the Pursuit of Prosperity: Party Competition and Policy Outcomes in 50 States," 2021, American Political Science Review
  • "How do Americans want elections to be run during the COVID-19 crisis?", 2021, Research & Politics
  • "Are elite cues necessary to drive the 'Winner Effect' on trust in elections?", 2022, Electoral Studies

Throughout their career, Kousser has collaborated frequently with several coauthors, including:

  • Mackenzie Lockhart
  • Seth J. Hill
  • Mindy Romero
  • Jennifer L. Merolla
  • Gerald Gamm

Their research bridges multiple subfields, including political science and international relations, sociology and political science, communication, economics and econometrics, and gender studies, demonstrating a multidisciplinary approach to understanding political and social dynamics.

Best Publications

  • Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis

    Virginia Gray;Russell L. Hanson;Thad Kousser

  • Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism

    Thad Kousser

  • The Logic of American Politics

    Samuel Kernell;Gary C. Jacobson;Thad Kousser

  • The Power of American Governors: Winning on Budgets and Losing on Policy

    Thad Kousser;Justin H. Phillips

  • Does Voting by Mail Increase Participation? Using Matching to Analyze a Natural Experiment

    Thad Kousser;Megan Mullin

  • Laboratories against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics

    Unknown

  • For Whom the TEL Tolls: Can State Tax and Expenditure Limits Effectively Reduce Spending?:

    Thad Kousser;Mathew D. McCubbins;Ellen Moule

  • The Politics of Discretionary Medicaid Spending, 1980-1993

    Thad Kousser

  • Broad Bills or Particularistic Policy? Historical Patterns in American State Legislatures

    Gerald Gamm;Thad Kousser

  • Adapting to Term Limits: Recent Experiences and New Directions

    Bruce E. Cain;Thad Kousser

  • Party Power or Preferences? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from American State Legislatures

    Gary W. Cox;Thad Kousser;Mathew D. McCubbins

  • Ideological Adaptation? The Survival Instinct of Threatened Legislators

    Thad Kousser;Jeffrey B. Lewis;Seth E. Masket

  • The Power of American Governors

    Unknown

  • Retrospective voting and strategic behavior in European Parliament elections

    Thad Kousser

  • Who Blinks First? Legislative Patience and Bargaining with Governors

    Thad Kousser;Justin H. Phillips

  • The influence of political leaders on climate change attitudes

    Thad Kousser;Bruce Tranter

  • Deliberative Agenda Setting: Piloting Reform of Direct Democracy in California

    James Fishkin;Thad Kousser;Robert C. Luskin;Alice Siu

  • America's electorate is increasingly polarized along partisan lines about voting by mail during the COVID-19 crisis.

    Mackenzie Lockhart;Seth J Hill;Jennifer Merolla;Mindy Romero

  • No Strength in Numbers: The Failure of Big-City Bills in American State Legislatures, 1880–2000

    Gerald Gamm;Thad Kousser

  • For Whom the TEL Tolls: Can State Tax and Expenditure Limits Effectively Reduce Spending?

    Thad Kousser;Mathew D. McCubbins;Ellen Seljan

  • Where Politicians Gave Power to the People Adoption of the Citizen Initiative in the U.S. States

    Amy Bridges;Thad Kousser

  • The Limited Impact of Term Limits: Contingent Effects on the Complexity and Breadth of Laws

    Thad Kousser

  • How Do Public Goods Providers Play Public Goods Games

    Daniel M. Butler;Thad Kousser

  • Social Choice, Crypto-Initiatives and Policy Making by Direct Democracy

    Thad Kousser;M D McCubbins

Frequent Co-Authors

Mathew D. McCubbins
Mathew D. McCubbins Duke University
Jennifer L. Merolla
Jennifer L. Merolla University of California, Riverside
Seth E. Masket
Seth E. Masket University of Denver
Kevin Arceneaux
Kevin Arceneaux Sciences Po
Gary W. Cox
Gary W. Cox Stanford University
Costas Panagopoulos
Costas Panagopoulos Northeastern University
Virginia Gray
Virginia Gray University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Emilie Marie Hafner-Burton
Emilie Marie Hafner-Burton University of California, San Diego
Gary C. Jacobson
Gary C. Jacobson University of California, San Diego
David G. Victor
David G. Victor University of California, San Diego

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