The Policy Effects of County Executive and Legislative Elections [Research Assistant]

Professor: Chris Warshaw
Department: Political Science
Title: The policy effects of county executive and legislative elections
Description: County governments spend nearly 400 billion dollars each year and employ over 2 million people. However, there has been little previous research about the effect of elections on county fiscal policies. For instance, how much does it matter whether Democrats or Republicans are elected to the county commission? In this study, we are in the process of examining the policy consequences of partisan control of county executives and legislative bodies (“commissions”). Our findings will contribute to a growing literature on the policy consequences of partisan control of state and local government. There will be opportunities for the RA to conduct their own original research using this new dataset (e.g., for a thesis project) if they desire.
Duties: Collect county election data from websites and news archives, and conduct preliminary analysis of it.
Time commitment: 7-9 hours per week (average)
Credit hour option*: 3
Submit Cover Letter/Resume to: warshaw@gwu.edu
*If credit is sought, all registration deadlines and requirements must be met.  Students selected to be research assistants should contact Mary Rothemich at rothemich@gwu.edu whether they intend to pursue credit or not.