Political Science Professors Publish Award-Winning Research

Photo Submitted

Urban Affairs Review, Volume 49, Number 1, January 2013

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An award-winning article by three University of Arkansas professors has been published by the Urban Affairs Review.

When does Politics Matter? A Reexamination of the Determinants of African-American and Latino Municipal Employment Patterns is authored by political science professors Brinck Kerr, Margaret Reid and William Schreckhise, along with William Miller of the University of Illinois in Springfield. Earlier versions of the paper, which focuses on public sector job distribution for minorities, won Best Paper Award from the American Political Science Association, Urban Politics Section and the Jewell Prestage Best Paper Award on Race and Ethnicity from the Southwestern Political Science Association.

Kerr, Reid and Miller have been conducting research on job distribution in the public sector by race, ethnicity and gender in association with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission since the late 1990s. They have published multiple articles and a book, Glass Walls and Glass Ceilings: Women’s Representation in State and Municipal Bureaucracies (Praeger: 2003), based on their research,

While the study has been in progress for more than a decade, this paper is the most ambitious project the authors have completed since beginning their research. This large-scale evaluation includes results based on data collected over an extended period of time.

“This article represents our first attempt to develop a multivariate time series model with which to evaluate relationships between political representation and public sector job distribution,” said Kerr. “The most intriguing finding from the paper is that political processes in multiethnic U.S. cities appear to work differently for Latinos than they do for African Americans.”

Kerr is a professor of political science and director of the doctoral program in public policy. He holds degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A & M University, and has had work published in multiple refereed journals including American Journal of Political Science, Public Administration Review and Social Science Quarterly.

Reid is a professor of political science and the chair of the department. She has published many articles in refereed journals including Politics & Policy, Administration & Society and Public Administration Review. Reid holds degrees from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Central Oklahoma.

Schreckhise is an associate professor of political science and recently joined the research team of Kerr, Reid and Miller to complete this article. Schreckhise completed his graduate and undergraduate studies at Washington State University. He has presented multiple articles at national conferences and in refereed publications.

Miller is an associate professor and chair of the public administration program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, and was also the founding director of the doctoral program in public policy at the University of Arkansas. He holds a doctorate in public policy analysis and administration from St. Louis University.

The article was published in the journal’s January issue and me be found on the Urban Affairs Review website.