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Doctoral Student
Comparative Politics

• Fields of Study

  • Comparative Politics, European Politics, Race and Ethnicity

• About

  Jennifer's research interests include race and ethnicity, nationalism, immigration and integration, political parties and European integration. Her dissertation addresses several pressing questions regarding national identity and the democratic inclusion of underrepresented groups by explaining a puzzle in Western European politics: center-right parties' attempts to win the votes of immigrants and their descendants.  

  Jennifer systematically compares center-right parties' strategies toward these voters in Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, the netherlands, and Sweden, using two novel datasets: one of electoral and organizational appeals to ethnic minorities and the other comprising party positions on all cross-nationally comparable policies aimed at migrants and minority citizens from 1980 through 2008.  She uses the data to identify the determinants of the substantial variation in center-right party strategy, and thus understand when these parties seek to redefine the nation.  

• Education

  • Indiana University, Bloomington, Bachelor of Arts, 2004
  • University of Michigan, Master of Arts, 2006

• Grants

  • National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, 2009-2010
  • National Science Foundation Three Year Graduate Fellowship
  • Jean Monnet Graduate Fellow, University of Michigan European Union Center, 2009

• Presentations

  • “Geographical Heterogeneity and Party Manifesto Responsiveness.” American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, August 30-September 2, 2012
  • “High Risks, High Rewards? The Costs and Benefits of Approaching Immigrants as Voters for Mainstream Political Parties in Western Europe.” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, April 1215, 2012
  • “Redefining the Nation: A Theory of Center-Right Party Outreach Toward Ethnic Minorities in Europe.” Eighteenth International Meeting of Europeanists, Barcelona, Spain, June 20-22, 2011

• Dissertation Title

  • Redefining the Nation: Center-Right Party Outreach Toward Ethnic Minorities in Western Europe

• Dissertation Chair

  • Anna Grzymala-Busse(co-chair)
  • Ken Kollman (co-chair)

• Dissertation Committee

  • Robert Mickey, Rob Franzese, Andy Markovits