
Robert Van Houweling
Professor Van Houweling studies political behavior and legislative institutions in the United States. Both aspects of his research are driven by an interest in better understanding the representational linkages between electorates and officeholders. He received his B.A. in political science from the University of Michigan in 1993 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2003. He worked as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Thomas A. Daschle of South Dakota from 1993 to 1995. He has published articles in a variety of political science journals, including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and Studies in American Political Development.
Professor Van Houweling is engaged in two large ongoing projects. The first project, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, examines how citizens respond to various characterisitics of candidates policy positions, including their content, consistency, and ambiguity. The second project examines how modern congressional majority parties employ legislative tactics to weaken representational constraints on their members. One unique aspect of this Congress-focused work is that it uses surveys and survey experiments to better understand how the electorate provides incentives for, and constraints upon, the procedural strategies legislators adopt.
- Political Repositioning. (with Michael Tomz).
- Parties as Enablers.
- Explaining Explanations: How Legislators Explain their Policy Positions and How Citizens React. (with Christian Grose and Neil Malhotra). Online Appendix.
- Political Pledges as Credible Commitments. (with Michael Tomz).
- Roll Calls and Representation. (with Andrew Kelly).
- Lobbying Without Buying Time. (with Richard L. Hall and Matthew Beckmann).
- Candidate Repositioning. (with Michael Tomz).
- Americans Fill Out President Obama's Census Form: What is His Race? (with Morris Levy and Jack Citrin).
- The Senate Electoral Cycle and Bicameral Appropriations Politics. American Journal of Political Science 53, no. 2 (April 2009):343-359 (With Kenneth Shepsle, Samuel Abrams, and Peter Hanson).
- The Electoral Implications of Candidate Ambiguity. American Political Science Review 103, no. 1 (February 2009):83-98 (with Michael Tomz).
- Explaining the Contemporary Alignment of Race and Party: Evidence from California's 1946 Ballot Initiative on Fair Employment. Studies in American Political Development 22 (Fall 2008):204-228 (with Anthony S. Chen and Robert W. Mickey).
- Candidate Positioning and Voter Choice. American Political Science Review 102, no. 3 (August 2008): 303-18 (with Michael Tomz).
- An Evolving End Game: The Partisan Use of Conference Committees, 1953-2003. In Process, Party and Policy Making: Further New Perspectives on the History of Congress, David Brady and Mathew McCubbins, eds. (2006). Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- How Does Voting Equipment Affect the Racial Gap in Voided Ballots? American Journal of Political Science 47, no. 1 (January 2003):46-60 (with Michael Tomz). Related Research Note on Proxy Variables.
- Avarice and Ambition in Congress: Representatives' Decisions to Run or Retire from the U.S. House. American Political Science Review 89 (March 1995):121-136 (with Richard L. Hall).
University of Califorina, Berkeley, Political Science Department, 2006 - Present
- American Field Seminar (Ph.D. Seminar)
- Legislative Institutions (Ph.D. Seminar)
- Introduction to Political Psychology (Ph.D Seminar)
- Introduction to American Politics (Undergraduate Lecture)
- Congress (Undergraduate Lecture)
University of Michigan, Political Science Department and Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, 2002 - 2004
- Legislative Institutions (Ph.D. Seminar)
- Poltical Environment of Policy Analysis (MPP Lecture)
- Legislative Policy Process (MPP Seminar)
Stanford University, Political Science Department, 2001 - 2002
- Congress (Undergraduate Lecture)
- Political Parties (Undergraduate Lecture)