May 2022 Affiliate of the Month: Steven Rosenzweig (CAS Political Science)
May 2022: Steven Rosenzweig (CAS Political Science)
Steven Rosenzweig
is an assistant professor of political science. He studies comparative politics and the political economy of development, with a focus on political violence, electoral accountability, and African politics. He is a co-coordinator of the Research in Comparative Politics Workshop. Dr. Rosenzweig’s book project investigates the logic of violence in electoral competition, analyzing why politicians use violence as an electoral tactic and how it affects voting behavior. He has also written on ethnic politics, electoral accountability, survey research methods, and political polarization. Current projects include researching the effects of party primaries in developing democracies and the impact of a program to strengthen American democracy through partisan depolarization. His work has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, Electoral Studies, and Research and Politics.
What made you decide to be a social scientist/ why does social science matter to you?
I decided to become a social scientist because I believed it would allow me to generate knowledge that could help improve human welfare and security. I’ve long been interested in the political arrangements, institutions, and policies that support peace and effective and accountable governance, and so I’ve focused my research on those topics.
Can you tell us about a recent research project that you’re excited about?
Though I’m what political scientists call a “comparativist” (at American universities, essentially someone who studies the politics of countries other than the U.S.) I’ve actually been working on a study with a group of mostly fellow comparativists that analyzes the effects of an intervention that attempts to reduce partisan polarization in the U.S., especially “affective” polarization (animosity towards members of the other party). We came to this project because we all study the process of democratic erosion (how democracies may be slowly undermined from within) and have become increasingly worried about the state of American democracy, including the threat that extreme polarization poses to the functioning of our democratic institutions. Encouragingly, we found that the intervention we studied (a daylong workshop that brings together Democrats and Republicans to discuss their beliefs about themselves and each other in order to increase empathy and understanding) did reduce animosity between groups, with some effects lasting as long as 6 months. We hope the intervention can provide a model for addressing the problem of polarization going forward.
What is the best piece of professional advice you ever received?
To always choose your research topics by what excites and interests you, not by what is popular or in demand, because 1) you never know what will actually be popular or in demand once your research comes to fruition and 2) it’s the only way to stay motivated and engaged on projects that may extend for years.
What is your favorite course you’ve taught at BU?
I’ve really enjoyed teaching my course on Democratic Erosion. While the material can be a bit depressing at times, students are always fully engaged because the material is so topical. It’s also thrilling to see how studying the subject in comparative and historical context helps them to gain a much deeper understanding about the state of democracy in the U.S. and elsewhere, identifying its strengths and weaknesses, as well as what to look for in gauging its future prospects.
Tell us a surprising fact about yourself.
I once spent a day being interrogated by the police for doing research on opposition party strength in an increasingly authoritarian country. Studying politics can be tough!