Affiliated Faculty
Dr. Melody Rose
Melody Rose is the Founder and former Director of The Center for Women, Politics, and Policy. She is also the Vice Chancellor of Academic Strategies for the Oregon University System. Her research is focused on the descriptive and substantive representation of women in American government, and she has authored a number of books, articles, and chapters on the presidency, social policy, women & politics, and elections. Her third book, Hillary Clinton’s Race for the White House: Gender Politics and the Media on the Campaign Trail (with Regina Lawrence) was published in 2009 by Lynne Rienner Publishers. She is a regular political analyst on local, state, and national media on matters of elections, voting, party systems, and women’s political action. In 2007, she was chosen as one of Portland’s “100 Most Powerful Women.” She currently serves on the Portland City Club Board of Governors, and recently won the 2008 PSU Alumni Association’s Distinguished Faculty award for excellence in research, teaching and community engagement.
Dr. Melody Ellis Valdini
Melody Ellis Valdini is an assistant professor of political science at Portland State University, as well as a member of the CWPP board of advisors. Her research is focused on building a greater understanding of institutions that affect the representation of women in legislatures around the world, with specific attention given to the effects of electoral system variables such as intraparty competition, the nomination strategies of political parties, and information shortcuts employed by both voters and party elites. In 2012, Professor Ellis Valdini won the coveted Carrie Chapman Catt Award for her gender quota research from the American Political Science Association.
Dr. Lindsay Benstead
Lindsay Benstead is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Portland State University where she teaches courses on Middle East and North African politics. Her working book project, entitled Legislative Connections: Why Diverse Patterns of Parliamentary Clientelism Stabilizes Authoritarian Governance in Morocco, Algeria, and the Arab World, examines the relationship between electoral and parliamentary institutions, access to clientelistic benefits for ordinary citizens, and popular attitudes and behaviors conducive to the development of democracy. Prof. Benstead also examines gender-related dimensions of legislatures, public opinion, and survey methodology in the Middle East. One of her projects seeks to understand why popular perceptions of women as good political leaders vary across Middle Eastern societies and assesses whether gender quotas which increase the formal representation of women also produce higher levels of social popular support for gender equity. Prof. Benstead is also working on a field experiment testing the impact of interviewer gender on gender-related attitudinal indicators in Moroccan social surveys.
Dr. Rebecca Hannagan
Dr. Rebecca J. Hannagan is visiting Associate Professor of Political Science and Affiliate of the Center for Women, Politics & Policy. She is a 2006 graduate of the University of Nebraska, and her home institution is Northern Illinois University where she is Associate Professor of Political Science, Faculty Associate of Women's Studies, and Research Faculty of the Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault. She specializes in the biological underpinnings of political attitudes and behavior with particular focus on gender differences. Her research has been published in Political Behavior, Perspectives on Politics, PS: Political Science and Politics, Politics and the Life Sciences, The Journal of Trauma and Dissociation, Sex Roles, Biology and Philosophy, and other journals and edited volumes. Dr. Hannagan was the principle investigator on a National Science Foundation grant for approximately $95,000, undertaking the study of gender dynamics in local government decision making. While visiting at PSU she will teach courses in Political Psychology, Biopolitics, and The Psychology of War.
Check back for more affiliated faculty at the Center for Women, Politics & Policy. Our partnerships are growing.
