About

As a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Vanderbilt University, I study American politics with a focus on subnational politics and public policy.  My ongoing research explores representation, budgeting and public finance, and fiscal health in American cities.   I have amassed a comprehensive dataset of mayoral candidate profiles, including race, gender, occupation, and political experience, to provide a new and detailed account of representation in American cities. My dissertation incorporates both observational and experimental methods, leveraging these original data to assess the relationship between local politics and public policy. This research has been supported by a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant from the National Science Foundation.  Other current projects investigate vote choice in nonpartisan elections and the connection between divided government and legislative productivity in the states.

As a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, I served as Teaching Fellow in the Department of Political Science and a Graduate Assistant in the Empirical Reasoning Center at Barnard College.

I will receive my Ph.D. from Columbia University in October, 2017.  I received my M.Phil. and M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science from Temple University.

 

Email:  patricia [dot] a [dot] kirkland [at] vanderbilt [dot] edu