Assistant Professor of Political Science. Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010.
Amber Wichowsky is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. Her teaching and research specializations include urban politics, public policy, public opinion and electoral behavior. Her dissertation, The Competition Cure? The Consequences of Competitive Elections, examined whether efforts to make congressional elections more competitive are warranted, and was awarded the Carl Albert Award for best dissertation in legislative studies by the American Political Science Association in 2011. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale University's Center for the Study of American Politics. She previously worked on community and economic development policy and performance management initiatives at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
Amber's publications include a chapter in the Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior, several articles on presidential primaries, and an award-winning article on the civic implications of public policy design. She is currently working on two projects related to voter turnout. The first examines the political factors shaping the income composition of state electorates over the last three decades. The second considers the effects of unemployment on voting participation (with Barry Burden, UW-Madison). Her work with Conor Dowling (Yale University) looks at the effects of campaign finance disclosure on how voters evaluate candidates. She is also about to begin a project on the effects of residential segregation on political participation in Milwaukee, WI.
Wichowsky, Amber, and Sarah Niebler. 2010. “Narrow Victories and Hard Games: Revisiting the Primary Divisiveness Hypothesis.” American Politics Research 38:1052-1071.
Burden, Barry C., and Amber Wichowsky. 2010. “The Promise of Congressional Elections” in The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior, ed. Jan E. Leighley. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 453-470.
Shafer, Byron E., and Amber Wichowsky. 2009. “Institutional Structure and Democratic Values: A Research Note on a Natural Experiment.” The Forum 7(2).
Shafer, Byron E., and Amber Wichowsky. 2008. “The Nomination and the Election: Clearing Away Underbrush.” The Forum 6(4).
Wichowsky, Amber, and Donald P. Moynihan. 2008. “Measuring How Administration Shapes Citizenship: A Policy Feedback Perspective on Performance Management.” Public Administration Review 68(5): 907-919.
Soss, Joe, Meghan Condon, Matthew Holleque, and Amber Wichowsky. 2006. “The Illusion of Technique: How Method-Driven Research Leads Welfare Scholarship Astray.” Social Science Quarterly 87(4): 798-807.
The link to Amber Wichowsky's personal website is here.
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