Dissertation
Three essays on American Climate Attitudes (Cameron Ballard-Rosa (Chair), Christopher Clark, Mark Crescenzi, Marc J. Hetherington, Graeme Robertson) My dissertation focuses on the political economy of the environment, with a particular emphasis on the politics of domestic support for both national and international climate change policy among the American public. I suggest a pivotal role for feelings of racial animus and in-group preference in the attitude formation of white Americans on issues of climate policy. I test this argument using surveys and experiments in an effort to better understand how the public thinks about climate policy. I find that high racial resentment is associated with reduced support for both domestic and international climate policies, irrespective of political affiliation. Using an original survey experiment, I demonstrate that providing White respondents with information about the racially distributive effects of climate policy reduces their support for climate action, with the largest negative impact among those with high levels of racial resentment.
Teaching Interests
Global environmental politics, political economy, American political behavior, U.S. foreign policy, research methods
Research Interests
International Relations/American Politics
Publications
International Studies Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Security Studies, International Studies Perspectives, PS: Political Science & Politics, Journal of Global Security Studies