The Songer Project
PhD Student
Stephanie Davis is a third-year PhD student of American Politics and Political Theory. Her main areas of interest include federalism, the American Founding Era, Articles of Confederation, and American Political Thought in relation to the United States operating as a Republic. Please visit her CV for additional information.
Personnel - Graduate Students
PhD Candidate
I am the Glenn Abernathy Fellow in Public Law for the Department of Political Science, as well as a Presidential Teaching Fellow for the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina. My dissertation examines how executives and judiciaries transform judicial authority during periods of transition. Specifically, I identify the conditions under which scholars should observe cooperation, defection, and positions of neutrality between branches of government in an attempt to manipulate the judiciary. My research broadly examines institutional impacts on judicial behavior in comparative environments.
PhD Candidate
TJ Kimel is a fourth year Ph.D. student studying Judicial Politics and American Politics, and he is the 2014 PSGSO Conference Chair. His dissertation focuses on judicial legitimacy at the state supreme court level. His other research interests include party capability theory, the courts and public opinion, public opinion and emotion, and teaching political science. TJ’s teaching interests include Judicial Process and Politics, Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, Women and the Law, Introduction to American Government, Campaigns and Elections, Public Opinion, Political Parties, Congress, Introduction to Comparative Politics, and Undergraduate Research Methods