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Center for the Study of Representation
Mike Synar Graduate Research Fellowship Recipients
Mike Synar
The Center for the Study of Representation at the Institute of Governmental Studies is able to offer the Mike Synar Graduate Research Fellowship because of a generous donation from Bill Brandt, a member of the Board of Advisers of the Institute of Governmental Studies.
This fellowship honors Mike Synar, the former U.S. Congressman from the 2nd District of Oklahoma from 1979 to 1995. As a member of Congress, Synar was praised for his independent and critical voice and for his dedication to public service. He was first elected to Congress at the age of 28 and sadly passed away when only 45. As a member of Congress, Synar was praised for his independent and critical voice and for his dedication to the public interest. More information about the former Congressman and his life is available here.
Bill Brandt
Synar Research Fellowships are awarded to distinguished UC Berkeley graduate students who are writing their dissertations on an aspect of American politics, including public opinion, electoral behavior, civic participation, government institutions, social movements, and public policy. Each year, the Center for the Study of Representation will award up to five Synar Research Fellowships of up to $3,000 each. The Center for the Study of Representation encourages applicants from a broad range of disciplines (Political Science, History, Economics, Sociology, Law, Public Policy, Journalism, and other disciplines) to apply.
2008-09 Recipients
Bruce Huber, Amanda Hollis-Brusky, Bill Brandt, Ming Hsu Chen, Vikram
Maheshri, and Terri Bimes (Director, IGS Center for the Study of
Representation and Lecturer in Political Science at UC Berkeley) Hanna Brown (Sociology): "Race, Immigration, and the Transformation of the U.S. Welfare State, 1988-2008"
By examining the welfare policies of Alabama, Georgia, California and Arizona before and after Bill Clinton's major 1996 welfare reform bill was passed, Brown hopes to answer important questions dealing with the diversity of state responses and outcomes. Her Synar Research Fellowship will help pay for travel to conduct archival research and also conduct interviews.
Ming Hsu Chen (Jurisprudence and Social Policy): "From Civil Rights to Multiculturalism"
In her research, Chen tackles the question of why language rights developed in education and voting but not in the employment policy arena. Her answer emphasizes the role of issue networks within which both established elites and issue activists play important roles. The Mike Synar Research Fellowship will support travel to conduct archival research and will help defray the cost of transcribing interviews with government officials and community activists.
Amanda Hollis-Brusky (Political Science): "The Federalist Society and the Structural Constitution"
Hollis-Brusky's research focuses on the Federalist Society and how it has transformed the interpretation of constitutional law. She plans to use part of her fellowship money to travel to Washington DC to interview past and current members of the Federalist Society and observe annual lawyer and student chapter conferences.
Bruce Huber (Political Science): "The Politics of Grandfathering in Environmental Law"
In his dissertation, Huber seeks to more fully understand how political, social and structural conditions shape the relationship between government officials and industry players and their propensity to use the grandfathering process. By examining several case studies, Huber hopes to provide a detailed map of the bargaining process over environmental law provisions. Huber will use the Mike Synar Research Fellowship to travel to Washington DC to interview federal environmental policymakers.
Vikram Maheshri (Economics): "Money in Politics: Causes and Consequences"
How does money affect decision-making in Washington? This is the question that Maheshri sets out to answer in his dissertation. Instead of examining how political contributions affect legislative voting, he instead examines how political contributions affect the actual types of bills that come up for a vote. His work has the potential to break new ground on this age-old political question. The money from the Mike Synar Research Fellowship will give Maheshri the financial freedom to finish his dissertation without holding an outside job.
2007-08 Recipients
Corey Brooks (History): "Building an Anti-Slavery House: Political Abolitionists and Congress, 1836-1861"
Peter Hanson (Political Science): "The Institutional Effects of Partisan Polarization in Congress"
Jennifer Randles (Sociology): "Learning and Legislating to Love: U.S. Relationship Education and the Modern Marriage Crisis"
Rocio Titiunik (Agriculture and Resource Economics): "Empirical Investigations in Political Economy and Representation"
Kevin Wallsten (Political Science): "Public Opinion and the New ‘New Media’"
