John Michael McTague
American Politics
2126 Tydings Hall
College Park, Maryland 20742
Mobile Phone: (908) 812-9203
jmctague {at} gvpt•umd•edu
Curriculum Vitae (Download PDF)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, College Park. Advanced to Candidacy in Fall, 2008.
B.A. with Honors, Political Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, May 2003.
Dissertation Title: “Contested Populism: The Cross-pressured White Working Class in American Politics”
Dissertation Committee: Geoffrey Layman, Irwin Morris, Karen Kaufmann, and Frances Lee
Dissertation Abstract: Conventional wisdom in political science holds that many in the white working class (WWC) defected from the New Deal coalition as a result of the Democratic Party’s embrace of African American civil rights. A recent collection of studies revises this conventional wisdom, maintaining that WWC allegiance to the Democratic Party is in fact stronger than ever, and has been for decades. In this project, I argue that neither of these perspectives is sufficient. In response to this puzzling contradiction, I propose a comprehensive study of the political behavior of the WWC. I argue that the multidimensional nature of political conflict in the post-New Deal era of American politics- economic, racial, cultural, and foreign policy issues- has offered both parties opportunities to effectively market themselves as populist champions of the working class. As a result, the WWC is a politically untethered, cross-pressured electoral constituency.
PUBLICATIONS
“Religion, Parties, and Voting Behavior: A Political Explanation of Religious Influence.” (with Geoffrey Layman) in The Oxford University Handbook on Religion and American Politics, Chapter 12. Forthcoming.
“Partisan Mountains and Molehills: The Geography of U.S. State IntrapartyFactionalism.” (with Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz) in State Politics and
PolicyQuarterly, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring 2008): pp. 7-31.
“Distance-Decay in the Political Geography of Friends-and-Neighbors Voting” (with James G. Gimpel, Kimberly A. Karnes, and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz.) in Political Geography, February 2008, Volume 27 (2): 231- 252.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Graduate Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park, 2004-2006.
Summer Research Grant in the amount of $1000, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 2006.
Roger H. Davidson Award for best graduate student paper in American politics, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 2007.
METHODS TRAINING
ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research (2nd session), University of Michigan, Summer 2005 (courses: Categorical Data Analysis, Matrix Algebra, and Time Series Analysis).
CONFERENCE PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS
“The White Working Class in American Politics: Who They Are and How the Parties Compete for Their Votes,” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, (August 28-31, 2008).
“Presidential Campaigning in Congressional Elections: Causes and Effects” (with Paul S. Herrnson and Irwin L. Morris), Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, (April 3-6, 2008).
“Partisan Mountains and Molehills: The Geography of Intraparty Factionalism,” (with Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz). Georgetown University Government Department Graduate Conference, Washington, DC (May 14, 2007).
“Christian Right Strength in State Republican Parties: The Role of ‘Religious Threat,’” Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans (January 3-7, 2007).
“Family Values Revisited” (with Geoffrey C. Layman, Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz, and Michael Spivey), Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans (January 3-7, 2007).
"The Evolution of Law in the Federal Court System: a Citation Analysis of Federal Regulatory Takings Decisions, 1978-2005" (with Ken Cousins, Wayne McIntosh, Michael Evans, Steve Simon, and Rebecca Thorpe), Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia (August 30 - September 2, 2006).
“Voting from the Pew: The Effect of Senators’ Religious Affiliations on Cultural Issues Voting, 1976-2004” (with Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz), Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Political Science Association, Chicago (April 2006).
“Patterns of Judicial Influence: Tracking Regulatory Takings Policy in the Lower Federal Courts” (with Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz, Steve Simon, Mike Evans, Kimberly Karnes, Ken Cousins, and Wayne McIntosh), Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC (September 1-4, 2005).
“Using Information Technology to Examine the Communication of Precedent: Initial Findings and Lessons from the CITE-IT Project” (with Wayne McIntosh, Ken Cousins, James Rose, Steve Simon, Mike Evans, Kimberly Karnes, and Shanna Pearson-Merkowitz), Annual Meeting of the Western Political Science Association, Oakland, CA (March 17-19 2005).
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Reviewer for American Politics Research, 2007 and 2008.
Discussant, Panel on “Religion and Group Politics in the United States.” 78th Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, New Orleans, January 3-7, 2007.
Chair, Panel on "The Religious Foundations of Political Liberalism." 64th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, April 23, 2006.
Graduate Student Representative, Committee for Undergraduate Studies, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 2006-2007.
Graduate Student Representative on American Politics Faculty Search Committee, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, Fall 2006.
Graduate Student Representative for American Politics, Department of Government and Politics, 2005-2006.
Graduate Student Representative for the Graduate Admissions Committee, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland, 2005-2006.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Research Assistant to Dr. Wayne McIntosh, 2008-2009.
Research Assistant to Dr. Irwin Morris. 2007-2008.
Political Science Consultant to Dr. Joan C. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Hastings. December, 2007 – May, 2008.
Research Assistant to Dr. Wayne McIntosh on the NSF Funded “CITE-IT” project (SES-0519157), tracking the flow of precedent in the American judiciary across time, region, and jurisdiction using computer-driven acquisition and network analysis of citations. Summer, 2005.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Discover Hopkins Program AS 360.121.03: “Sources of Conflict in U.S. Presidential Elections: The 2008 Elections,” Johns Hopkins University, Summer 2008.
Instructor, Government and Politics 479e: “Seminar in American Politics: Sources of Conflict in U.S. Presidential Elections: The 2008 Elections,” University of Maryland, Summer 2008.
Instructor, Government and Politics 479a: “Seminar in American Politics: One Nation Under God? Religious Conflict in American Politics,” University of Maryland, Summer 2007.
Teaching Assistant, Government and Politics 722: “Introduction to Advanced Quantitative Methods II,” University of Maryland, Spring 2007.
Teaching Assistant, Government and Politics 622: “Introduction to Advanced Quantitative Methods I,” University of Maryland, Fall 2006.
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