DONALD M. GOOCH Assistant Professor of Political Science Arkansas Tech University

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A Resource for ATU students & a source of biographical, professional, and related information for all interested parties

1. Political Polarization: This set of projects relate to my dissertation work and involve studying political polarization at the mass and elite levels as well as the linkages between the two. The work focuses on clearing up confusions regarding the concept of political polarization by developing operational definitions and examining polarization as an empirical phenomenon over the last 4 decades.



2. Campaign Finance Regulatory Frameworks in the States: This is a project conducted along with my colleague, Dr. Chapman Rackaway, where we examine state campaign finance data and assess the extent to which state campaign finance laws affect the number and kind of contributors, the level of campaign spending, partisan advantage, and the electoral results in state elections.



3. Civic Education & Literacy in Arkansas: This project is based on an IRB-approved student survey conducted every semester at Arkansas Tech University in the American Government courses which attempts to assess the extent of student knowledge of civics, assess the impact of civic education on civic literacy as well as the prospects for civic action among young people. This project is one of several civic education projects coordinated throughout the state of Arkansas in addition to national efforts. This project is coordinated by my co-author, Dr. Michael Rogers.



4. Assumptions of Rational Choice: The purpose of this project is to test the fundamental assumptions of rational choice theory using a valid and reliable survey instrument in the classroom setting to assess the ability of students to rate candidates and issues, order their preferences across the available alternatives and issues, and use that ordering to make transitive-consistent and rational choices The objective of the project is to produce valid and reliable data across a sufficiently large cross-section of sample participants that helps answer these significant and important questions. I use an IRB-approved survey instrument administered to students in political science courses to test the RC assumptions.



5. Realignment in Arkansas: This project is a co-authored project with a student where we examine the causes and consequences of party realignment in the South with special attention to the state of Arkansas and its sluggish response to the realignment trend which began in the 1970's. We use elite interviews and public opinion data to assess what is different about the Arkansas political establishment and Arkansas mass voters that caused it to diverge from the rest of the Old South over the last three decades.



6. The Democratic Peace theory: This project is a co-authored project with a student where we conduct a comparative analysis of the Democratic Peace theory vis-a-vi the other major theories of international relations: realism and liberalism. We use POLITY data and other sources in a comparative test of the three theories to assess which is best in explaining variation in conflict initiation between states, casulites, and esclation of conflict in the international system.



7. Rational Bureaucratic Decision-Making as to Federal Benchmarks: This project is a continuation of my 2005 paper with Drs Keiser, Mueser & Sharpe where we examine One-Stops (state institutions responsible for implementing the WIA program according to federal guidelines) in an attempt to assess the degree to which these bureaucracies select and exit clients in order to meet federal requirements and defend their funding.



8. Majority-Minority Districts: This project is a multi-year analysis of the effect that redistricting has on the composition of Congress and specifically the effect the creation of majority-minority districts has had on the behavior of congresspersons and the policy impact pf these shifts in electoral constiuencies.

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