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Core FacultyThe four core faculty members in political theory have a diverse set of interests which, at the same time, intersect in many ways. All share a commitment to a pluralism of approaches and all eschew narrow distinctions such as those that might divide an historical from a contemporary approach or analytic styles from interpretive styles. There are shared interests, among other things, over gender and feminist theory, democratic theory, constitutional theories, political and social action, American political thought, and social metatheory.
Mariah Zeisberg (zeisberg [at] umich [dot] edu) joined the department in 2006 with an appointment in law and politics. She previously taught at Brown University, and her graduate work was at Princeton University. Her research focuses on constitutional theory, investigating the significance of political conflict and legal disagreement for our theories of constitutional authority. She is currently preparing a book manuscript on the constitutional war powers of the US Congress and President, exploring how appropriately-conducted conflict between these two branches as to the proper scope of war powers can be useful for the maintenance of constitutional governance over the long term. She has also written on religious freedom in the United States and Canada. Her teaching interests include constitutional theory, philosophy of law, and liberal and democratic theory. Other Political Science FacultyThe Department of Political Science has a large and diverse faculty. Numerous faculty have interests relevant to theorists, which makes for intellectually fruitful interactions on many levels. For example, graduate students have forged connections around public law, the politics of race and gender as well as political development and comparative politics in general. Updated 7/26/06 |
Arlene Saxonhouse's (awsaxon [at] umich [dot] edu) research focuses on ancient and early modern political thought. Her previous publications studied how attention to gender enriches our understanding of the political thought of the ancient theorists, how the debts that Hobbes's political thought has to the thought of Machiavelli help us understand the theoretical bases of modern political thought, and how careful readings of the ancient theorists provide previously unexplored insights into the possibilities and limits of democratic theory. Her current work continues the study of how ancient political theory contributes to democratic theory and how gender in Plato's dialogues casts questions on traditional readings of his political thought. She has recently published 
Don Herzog (dherzog [at] umich [dot] edu) has a full-time appointment at the Law School but remains a member of the theory subfield and regularly advises graduate students. His main teaching interests are political, moral, legal and social theory; constitutional interpretation; and the first amendment. His most recent book, 
Elizabeth Wingrove (ewingrov [at ] umich [dot] edu) has a joint appointment in political science and women's studies. Her book on Rousseau and the sexual politics of republicanism was recently published by Princeton University Press. Her current research combines contemporary social theory, literary theory, intellectual history, and canonical political theory in an exploration of 18th century epistolary culture. A central feature of this project concerns methodology, e.g., the complementarity as well as the tension that characterize narrative, historical, and quantitative modes of analysis. She has also written on educational "crises" in advanced democracies, and the uses and abuses of "civil society" as a political concept. She is a former director of the Interdisciplinary Institute and currently serves on the editorial board of Duke University Press's politics, culture and history series.
Mika LaVaque-Manty (mmanty [at] umich [dot] edu) joined the department in 2001, having previously taught at the University of Washington. He was trained as a philosopher at the University of Michigan. He is interested in political thought from the 17th century to today, particularly in questions regarding political action and agency, and in their explanation, loosely conceived. His main historical research interests are in 18th-century continental liberals, especially Montesquieu and Kant. In contemporary political theory, he focuses on liberal and democratic theory, including the ways they involve conceptions of gender and race. He has just completed a book manuscript titled Meaningful Competitions: From Dueling to Doping and Title IX (forthcoming from the University of Michigan Press). [