Thank you for visiting my website. I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University, and an Associate Professor of Law at the Florida State University College of Law (by Courtesy).
My research and teaching interests center on comparative democratic institutions of modern Latin America, with particular regard for courts, the separation of powers, and the rule of law. My research has been published in outlets such as the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, The Journal of Law and Courts, World Development, Political Research Quarterly, and has been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Institute of Humane Studies, among others.
I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis. As a Ph.D student at Washington University in St. Louis, I was a Graduate Research Associate in the Center for Empirical Research in the Law and a member of the Democratic Institutions Research Team. Prior to attending graduate school, I received my B.A. in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Gonzaga University.
PROJECTS
In June 2025, over 7,000 Mexican judges, including those on federal courts, will be directly elected by Mexican citizens, marking it the largest judicial elections in world history. This project will track citizens’ attitudes toward the reforms and the judiciary as these reforms are implemented, as citizens elect their judges, and as the directly elected judges are seated. Because judicial independence is associated with salutary governmental and economic outcomes, and public support for judicial institutions is a key determinant of judicial independence and influence, this project has implications for understanding how the direct election of judges might bolster or undermine the institutional separation of powers, economic development, and broader U.S.-Mexico relations.
This research is funded by the National Science Foundation, SES-2501293 & SES-2501294.
Scholars of judicial independence have long suggested that democratically elected incumbents who attack popular courts do so at their own peril: the threat of public mobilization and electoral retribution might buttress high courts from political interference. Our survey experiments fielded in nine presidential systems make evident that although incumbent attacks are rarely popular, incumbents face limited costs to interbranch attacks. The electoral connection is a feeble mechanism to protect judicial independence, a fact which upends longstanding assumptions about institutional legitimacy and its consequences for ambitious politicians who seek to bend the judiciary to their will.
This research is funded by the National Science Foundation, SES-1920977, SES-1920915 & SES-2025927.
Public support for the rule of law is stable both over time, even in the face of democratic retrocession. We show, however, that the efficacy of this support depends critically on institutions and the political context. Just as constitutions may be mere parchment barriers if they are not backed by public support for democratic norms, we demonstrate that public support for the rule of law as a democratic guardrail is only as strong as the institutions that activate it.
This research is funded by the National Science Foundation, SES-2027653, SES-2027664, SES-2027671.
We debut the Presidential Speeches of the Americas (PSA) dataset and archive, which records the appearances and speeches made by 24 presidents across 18 pure presidential systems of the western hemisphere.
PUBLICATIONS
DO CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS IMPROVE INTERGENERATIONAL GAINS IN EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT? EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL'S BOLSA FAMILIA PROGRAM (WITH GABRIEL CEPALUNI), 2025. WORLD DEVELOPMENT 187(2025). DOI.
AWARENESS OF EXECUTIVE INTERFERENCE AND DEMAND FOR JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: EVIDENCE FROM FOUR CONSTITUTIONAL COURTS (WITH MARTIN GANDUR & TAYLOR KINSLEY CHEWNING). 2025. JOURNAL OF LAW & COURTS. DOI.
PUBLIC (IN)TOLERANCE OF GOVERNMENT NON-COMPLIANCE WITH HIGH COURT DECISIONS (WITH AYLIN AYDIN-CAKIR & SUSANNE SCHORPP), 2024. COMPARATIVE POLITICS 57(1):71-90. DOI.
ON MOTIVES AND MEANS: HOW APPROACH AND JUSTIFICATION FOR COURT CURBING IMPACTS PUBLIC TRUST (WITH AYLIN AYDIN-CAKIR), 2024. DEMOCRATIZATION. DOI.
THE COSTS OF COURT CURBING: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2023. THE JOURNAL OF POLITICS 85(2):609-624. DOI. Winner of the 2021 APSA Law & Courts Section Best Conference Paper Award and the 2022 Neal Tate Award for Best Conference Paper in Judicial Politics at the SPSA.
ACCOUNTABILITY FOR COURT PACKING (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON) THE JOURNAL OF LAW & COURTS. (2023):1-22. DOI.
ARE COURTS DIFFERENT? EXPERIMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2023. RESEARCH & POLITICS. 10(3). DOI.
UNMASKING SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC NORMS (WITH JAY N. KREHBIEL, MICHAEL J. NELSON AND SANGYEON KIM), 2023. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH. DOI
EVALUATING EXCUSES: HOW THE PUBLIC JUDGES NONCOMPLIANCE (WITH JAY N. KREHBIEL, MICHAEL J. NELSON AND TARAN SAMARTH). 2023. JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. DOI.
BOLIVIA’S DEMOCRACY IN TRANSITION: MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS IN 2016, 2017. REVISTA DE CIENCIA POLÍTICA, 37(2): 255-279. DOI
JUDICIAL SELECTION AND THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF JUSTICE: LESSONS FROM THE BOLIVIAN JUDICIAL ELECTIONS, (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2015. JOURNAL OF LAW AND COURTS, 3(1):115-148. DOI
IGNORANCE OR OPPOSITION? BLANK AND NULL VOTING IN LOW-INFORMATION, HIGHLY POLITICIZED ENVIRONMENTS (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2014. POLITICAL RESEARCH QUARTERLY, 67(3):547-561. DOI
CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS AND CHILD LABOR (WITH GABRIEL CEPALUNI, TAYLOR KINSLEY CHEWNING & MARCO ANTONIO FAGANELLO), 2022. WORLD DEVELOPMENT, 152:1-15. DOI.
`GOING PUBLIC’ IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE: PRESIDENTS’ PUBLIC APPEALS UNDER PURE PRESIDENTIALISM (WITH ALEXANDRA COCKERHAM AND JOAN V. JOSEPH), 2019. PRESIDENTIAL STUDIES QUARTERLY. DOI.
PREJUDICE, STRATEGIC DISCRIMINATION AND THE ELECTORAL CONNECTION: EVIDENCE FROM A PAIR OF FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN BRAZIL(WITH GABRIEL CEPALUNI, FELICIANO DE SÁ GUIMARÃES AND PAOLO SPADA), 2018. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, 62(4):781-795. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. DOI
THERE IS NO LEGITIMACY CRISIS: PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR JUDICIAL INSTITUTIONS IN MODERN LATIN AMERICA (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2018. REVISTA SAAP, 12(2):366-371. DOI
CHRONICLE OF AN ELECTION FORETOLD: THE 2017 BOLIVIAN JUDICIAL ELECTIONS (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), POLÍTICA Y GOBIERNO, 37(2):255-279.
THE POLITICAL ORIGINS OF JUDICIAL ELECTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM THE UNITED STATES AND BOLIVIA, (WITH MICHAEL J. NELSON), 2013. JUDICATURE, 96(4):1-13. WEB APPENDIX. DOI
ADJUDICATORY OVERSIGHT AND JUDICIAL DECISION MAKING IN EXECUTIVE BRANCH AGENCIES (WITH CHRISTINA L. BOYD), 2013. AMERICAN POLITICS RESEARCH, 41(4):569-598 DOI
THE STRATEGIC USE OF LEGISLATIVE VOTING PROCEDURES (WITH BRIAN F. CRISP), 2012. LEGISLATIVE STUDIES QUARTERLY 37(1): 67-97. DOI
FEMINISM AND RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY (WITH MONA LENA KROOK), 2012. EUROPEAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW 4(2):195-216. DOI.
CAN THERE BE A FEMINIST RATIONAL CHOICE INSTITUTIONALISM? (WITH MONA LENA KROOK), 2009. POLITICS & GENDER 5(2): 238-245.
Working Papers
Contact me at adriscoll@fsu.edu for more information.
TEACHING
Recognized for Excellence in Teaching by FSU's College of Social Sciences and Public Policy 2020
Founding co-Director of the Applied Politics and Policy Learning Experience (APPLE) in the Department of Political Science at Florida State University.
I teach courses in Comparative Politics and Comparative Political Institutions. Here you fill find the course evaluations from some of my recent courses. Please contact me for working syllabi. If you are a current student seeking information on syllabi or course materials, please see the course homepage on Canvas.
Urban Politics (APPLE) (UG)
Comparative Political Institutions (UG)
Introduction to Comparative Politics (UG)
Comparative Prosem (G)
Comparative Institutions (G)
Authoritarian Politics (G)
As Director of Undergraduate Studies in my department, I am the Director of Internships and Experiential Learning, and the Honors in the Major Liaison
Co-Conveners Amanda Driscoll and Michael J. Nelson
Our next event will be the CWC: Courts, Public Support and Institutional Legitimacy, organized for the
Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 2026. Details are forthcoming.
PANEL 1: COURTING PUBLIC SUPPORT: SCOTUS, THE MEDIA AND THE PUBLIC
8:00AM – 9:20AM
Chair: Amanda Driscoll, Florida State University
Discussant: Rachael Houston, Texas Christian University
Discussant: Miles Armaly, Ole Miss
Participants:
Courting Public Support: Supreme Court Justice Public Appearances
Sara Benesh, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Michael Catalano, SUNY-Binghamton
Taraleigh Davis, Bradley University
Wendy Martinek, SUNY-Binghamton
All the News That's Not Fit to Print: Changing Means of Covering the United States Supreme Court
Matt Cota, Michigan State University
Rachael Houston, Texas Christian University
Elizabeth Lane, North Carolina State University
Jessica Schoenherr, University of South Carolina
An Analysis of Media Coverage of the Supreme Court’s Shadow Docket
Nathan Carrington, University of Louisiana-Lafayette
Logan Strother, Purdue University
Voting Rights and Diffuse Support for the US Supreme Court
Nicholas T. Davis, University of Alabama
Matthew Hitt, Colorado State
Myopic Partisanship and the Volatility of Public Evaluations of the U.S. Supreme Court
Chris Krewson, Brigham Young University
Ali Masood, Oberlin College
PANEL 2: LITIGATION AND THE PUBLIC
9:30AM – 10:50AM
Chair: Albert Rivero, University of Virginia, kpb5gs@virginia.edu
Discussant: Jessica Schoenherr, University of South Carolina, js122@mailbox.sc.edu
Discussant: Martín Gandur, Florida State University, mgandur@fsu.edu
Participants:
Does Judge Shopping Impact Public Support for the Judiciary?
Miles Armaly, Ole Miss
Elizabeth Lane, North Carolina State University
The Hidden Plaintiffs in Supreme Court Litigation
Sahar Abi-Hassan, Northeastern University
How Public Perceptions of Attorneys Might Impact Institutional Support for the Courts
Josh Boston, Bowling Green State University
Anna Gunderson, Louisiana State University
David Miller, University of California, Riverside
Kirsten Widner, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Priming Effects in Immigration Court Observation
Dehanza Rogers, Emory University
Jeff Staton, Emory University
Devon Thurman, Emory University
PANEL 3: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: NOMINATIONS & CONFIRMATIONS
11:00AM – 12:20PM
Chair: Chris Krewson, Brigham Young University
Discussant: Christina L. Boyd, University of Georgia
Discussant: Wendy Martinek, University of Binghamton-SUNY
Gumming up the Process: How Senators Use Questions for the Record in the Appointment of Federal Circuit Court Judges
Morrgan Herlihy, Penn State University
Multidimensional Descriptive Representation and Public Communication about Nominees
Jaclyn Kaslovsy, Rice University
Albert Rivero, University of Virginia
Andrew Stone, Ole Miss
Heard at the Hearing: Evidence of Societal Expectations of Judges
Matthew Reid Krell, Washburn University School of Law
Judicial Selection & Partisan Context in State High Courts
Michael A. Yontz, Georgia State University
The Lens of Partisan Identity: Perceptions of Interest Group Advertisements on Supreme Court Confirmations
Marcy Shieh, UNC-Charlotte
Christine Bird, Oklahoma State University
Rachael Houston, Texas Christian University
PANEL 4: JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE
2:00PM – 3:20PM
Chair: Martin Gandur, Florida State University
Discussant: Jeffrey K. Staton, Emory University
Discussant: Siv Cheruvu, UT Dallas
Participants:
Women Robed in Independence: How Women Judges Influence Perceptions of Judicial Independence in Europe.
EmiLee Smart, University of Kentucky
Abbie Wood, University of Kentucky
Legislative Votes and Judicial Review on the Bulgarian Constitutional Court
Tanya Bagashka, University of Houston
Lydia Tiede, University of Houston
Executive Attacks on Courts in Latin America (2009-2018)
Eugenia Artabe, University of Houston
Judicial Rights Protections and the Public: Evidence from Israel
Eileen Braman, Indiana University
Udi Sommer, University of Tel Aviv
Olivier Kamoun, University of Tel Aviv
PANEL 5: COMPARATIVE COURTS & PUBLIC SUPPORT
3:30PM – 4:50PM
Chair: Ali Massoud, Oberlin College
Discussant: Michael Nelson, The Pennsylvania State University
Discussant: Lydia Tiede, University of Houston
Participants:
Interbranch Conflicts and Public Support for Courts
Martin Gandur, Florida State University
The Legibility of Court Reforms: Theory and Evidence
Amanda Driscoll, Florida State University
Michael Nelson, The Pennsylvania State University
“We are part of the problem they protest”: The Role of State Supreme Courts and the Maintenance of Democracy in America
Michael K. Romano, Shenandoah University
How do domestic legal traditions affect public support for judicial power? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Siv Cheruvu, UT Dallas
Thalia Gerzso, London School of Economics
COURTS IN CONTEXT
Legacy Events
COURTS IN CONTEXT (CICS)
CWC: Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, St. Petersburg, FL, January 2023
Participant List:
Sara Benesh, Maoz Rosenthal, Audrey Baricovich, Morgan Hazelton, Sivaram Cheruvu, Jay N. Krehbiel, Jeffrey K. Staton, Whitney Taylor, David di Micheli, Michella Romo Rivas, Martín Gandur, Michael Romano, David Glick, Chris Krewson, Bill Wilkerson, Steven Livingston, Jake Truscott, Nathan Carrington, Logan Strother, Amanda Driscoll, Michael J. Nelson, Eileen Braman, Matthew Hitt, Rahul Hemrajani, Erin Crandall, Andrea Lawlor, Andrew Stone, Michael Olson, Vanessa Baird, Jean Schroedel, Claremont Graduate, Kevin McMahon, Erico Yu, Casandra Tai, Sara Benesh, Michael Catalano, Taraleigh Davis, Wendy Martinek, Nicholas T. Davis.
COURTS IN CONTEXT (CICS)
CWC: Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, San Juan Puerto Rico, January 2020
Participant List:
Lee Walker, Kirk Randazzo, Alyx Mark, Michael Zilis, Logan Strother, Ben Johnson, Lee Epstein, James L. Gibson, Rachael Hinkle, Michael J. Nelson, Amanda Driscoll, Miles T. Armaly, Sveinung Arneson, Vanessa Baird, Christine Bird, Bethany Blackstone, Christina L. Boyd, Adam E. Enders, Meghan Leonard, Pedro Magalhães, Reggie Sheehan, Jon Kare Skiple, Morgan Hazelton, Ian Ostrander,
Ethan D. Boldt, Anna Gunderson
PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS
CWC: Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 2019
Participant List:
James L. Gibson, Brandon L. Bartels, Sara C. Benesh, Sky Ammann, Wendy L. Martinek, Amanda Driscoll, Michael J. Nelson. Yoshikuni Ono, Michael Zilis, Susanne Schorpp, William Mishler, Nuno Garoupa, Pedro Coutinho Magalhães, Ryan Carlin, Mariana Castrellón Pérez, Varun Gauri, Isabel Cristina Jaramillo Sierra, Jeffrey K. Staton, Jay N. Krehbiel, Dino Christenson, Andrew Reeves, Jon Rogowski, Gretchen Helmke, Matthew Graham, Milan Svolik, Marialena Dias, Christian Davenport
CONTACT INFORMATION
AMANDA DRISCOLL