Professor of Political Science
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Box 4032
Emporia State University
Emporia, KS 66801
Phone: 620-341-5566
E-mail: msmith3@emporia.edu
2025-: Chapter President, American Association of University Professors, Emporia State University
2020-2023: Chair of Social Sciences, Sociology, and Criminology, Emporia State University
2015-2020: Chair of Social Sciences, Emporia State University
2014-15: Interim Chair of Social Sciences, Emporia State University
2007-2014: Associate Chair of Political Science, Emporia State University
2016-: Professor of Political Science: Emporia State University
2010-2016: Associate Professor: Emporia State University
2005- 2010: Assistant Professor: Emporia State University
Fall, 2004: Lecturer: The University of Kansas
2001-2004: Visiting Professor: Kansas State University
2000-2001: Visiting Assistant Professor: Millikin University
Winter, 2000: Temporary Instructor: Iowa State University
2000 Ph.D. Political Science University of Missouri- Columbia
Fields: American Politics, Political Theory, Public Policy & Public Administration
Dissertation title: “Closer to Home: Districts, Ambitions, and Home Styles of State House Members in a U.S. Metropolitan Area”
Committee Chair: Richard Hardy
1999 Summer program, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan
1994 M.A. Political Science The Ohio State University
Major: Policy Process Minor: Political Theory
1992 B.A. Political Science Reed College
Thesis Title: “God’s Revolution: The Role Of the Roman Catholic Church in the Transformation Of Poland, 1945-1989”
American Government (face to face and online)
Urban and Metropolitan Politics (face to face and online)
Quantitative Research Methods (online)
International Relations (online)
Contemporary Political Ideas (face to face)
Teaching Civic Engagement (online)
State and Local Government (face to face and hybrid)
Legislative Politics (face to face and online)
Constitutional Law (face to face)
Campaign Management (face to face and online)
Nonprofit Management (face to face and online)
Election Security (online)
Alternative Facts (hybrid, team taught)
American Political Parties and Elections (face to face and online)
Enlightenment Political Theory (face to face)
Development of Political Thought (face to face)
Religion and Secularism in Society (face to face, team taught)
American Political Thought (face to face)
Introduction to Political Science (face to face and online)
Political Science Though Satire and Humor (online)
Political Science in the Movies (face to face)
Introduction to Public Administration (face to face)
Political Behavior (face to face)
2023: Member of the Emporia State Childcare Task Force, which won over $2 million in grants to establish and staff a childcare facility in Emporia, KS. The grants are listed below:
CCA Capacity ($45,000)
CPF-ARPA #4419 ($1,756,759)
CCCA #4034 ($551,936)
Sadie Jones ($20,000)
CCA Coalition building ($2,000)
2007-8, 2021-: Board Member, Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity (a Gamaliel Network affiliate), Kansas City, MO-KS. Executive Board Member 2025-
2017-: Co-Chair: Kansas Board of Regents Core Outcomes Group (KCOG) Political Science task force (co-chair 2019-22)
2018- : Olathe School District Civic Leadership Academy Advisory Board
2024 Reform and Reaction: The Arc of Kansas Politics (w/Ed Flentje, Patrick Miller, Chapman Rackaway, and the late Burdett Loomis). University Press of Kansas.
2022 Much Sound and Fury or the New Jim Crow: The Twenty-First Century’s Restrictive New Voting Laws in the States (editor, contributor). State University of New York (SUNY) Press.
2019 Low Taxes and Small Government: Sam Brownback’s Great Experiment in Kansas (w/Bob Grover and Rob Catlett). Lexington.
2015 State Voting Laws in America: Historical Statutes and Their Modern Implications (w/Chapman Rackaway and Kevin Anderson). Palgrave Pivot.
2003 Bringing Representation Home: State Legislators Among Their Constituencies. University of Missouri Press.
January, 2025: "Redistricting and Black Political Mobilization: Implications from the 2018 and 2022 Midterm Elections" (w/Linda Trautman) Social Sciences. Volume 14, No. 2. Online.
June, 2020: “Primary Primers: Missouri and Iowa: The Challenge Facing Democrats in Obama-Trump Country” London School of Economics. Online.*
*Not peer-reviewed
June, 2016: “Contested Rights: The Pedagogy and Logistics of Hosting Constitution Day” (w/Amanda Miracle, Kevin Anderson, and Rob Catlett) The Social Studies v. 107, no. 5 pp. 153-159
2015: “Edmund Burke: Politician, What Burke Teaches Us About Defining Representation” in Emporia State Research Studies v. 50, no. 1
August, 2014 “Should We Teach Civics or Active Citizenship? A New Approach to Teaching” (w/The Honorable Bob Graham) PS: Political Science and Politics Volume 47, No. 3.
March, 2004: “One Piece At a Time: The Role of Time and Sequencing in Pivotal Politics” Perspectives on Politics. Volume 2, No 1.
October/November, 2003: “Kansas: The Three Party State” Campaigns and Elections Volume 24, No. 10.*
*Not peer-reviewed.
March, 2002: “A Dynamic Model of Agenda-Building: A Research Design for Public Policy” Politics and Policy Volume 30, No. 1.
June, 2001: “Minority Representation from the States after Shaw v. Reno: Legal Challenges, Empirical Evidence, and Alternative Approaches” Politics and Policy Volume 29, No. 2.
2011: “V is for Values” in Inside Politics eds. James Bowers and Stephen Daniels. Lynne Rienner Publishers
2010: “The Eulogy Effect: The Impact of a Candidate’s Death On Media Coverage During Campaigns” (w/Chapman Rackaway, Kevin Anderson, and Ryan Sisson) in Politics and Popular Culture ed. Leah Murray. Cambridge Scholars Press
2010: “From the Gut: How Real-World Political Actors Make Predictions" in Development of a Methodology for Prediction of Winners in American Elections, ed. Chandra Putcha. The Edwin Mellen Press
2007: “It’s All About the Turnover: Term Limits in Citizen Legislatures” Legislating Without Experience: Case Studies in State Legislative Term Limits ed. Rick Farmer, Christopher Z. Mooney, Richard J. Powell, and John C. Green. Lexington Books
2007: “Constituent Attention and Interest Representation” (w/ Lynda W. Powell and Richard G. Niemi) in Institutional Change in American Politics: The Case of Term Limits. University of Michigan Press
Testimony Before the Kansas Legislature Joint Special Committee on Governmental Ethics Reform, Campaign Finance Law October, 2023
Expert Witness, Coca and Rangel-Lopez v Dodge City U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas 2023-4
Expert Witness, Frick et al v Schwab Kansas District Court, 29th District; Kansas Supreme Court 2022
Expert Witness, Request that Sub SB 563 be found invalid with respect to Senate Districts 3 and 9 Kansas Supreme Court 2022
Testimony to Missouri (state) House Redistricting Committee regarding Jackson County January, 2022
Expert Witness, Bednasek v Kobach U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Filed as Keener v Kobach and decided together with Fish v Kobach 2018
2025 BLS/BEA/Census Bureau regional data analysis Reach Advisors
April, 2025: “Reform and Reaction: The Arc of Kansas Politics, 1960-2018” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
April, 2025: Roundtable on State Election Laws Since 2020 (Chair) Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
April, 2025: “Beyond Gingles: Districts Represented by Congressional Black Caucus Members” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
November, 2024: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Congressional Black Caucus Districts..." Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meetings Boston, MA
October, 2024: State Politics Panel Great Plains Political Science Association Annual Meetings Wichita, KS
October, 2024: "Reform and Reaction: The Arc of Kansas Politics" (w/Ed Flentje) Great Plains Political Science Association Annual Meetings Wichita, KS
April, 2024: Update: Post-2020 Voting Law Changes in the States, Roundtable held at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
November, 2023: “Does Redistricting Hinder African-American Turnout” (w/Linda Trautman) Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meetings Boston, MA
October, 2023: “Are Majority-Minority Districts Obsolete?” Great Plains Political Science Association Annual Meetings Wichita, KS
April, 2023: “Political Science Undercover” (w/Chapman Rackaway and Kevin Anderson) Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
October, 2022 Keynote Talk: “Much Sound and Fury or the New Jim Crow” Great Plains Political Science Association Annual Meetings Wichita, KS
April, 2022: Much Sound and Fury or the New Jim Crow: Meet the authors (roundtable) Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings Chicago, IL
October, 2021: “Redistricting and More: 2020 Census Meets 2020 Election Data” Great Plains Political Science Association Annual Meetings (virtual)
2008 Collaborator “Government Alive!” a curriculum for high-school adaptation Teachers Curriculum Institute
2025-: Occasional appearances on WDAF's Fox 4 the People (television, Kansas City)
2022-: Occasional appearances on KSNT’s Inside Kansas Politics (television, Topeka)
2019: Appearance in the documentary Charlie and the Common Good (dir. Pawel Kuczynski)
2019- Occasional Appearances on KPTS’s Kansas Week (television, Wichita)
2017-: Occasional Appearances on KTWU’s I’ve Got Issues (television, Topeka)
2016-: Occasional Appearances on KCUR’s Up to Date (radio, Kansas City)
2016-: Blogger for the Midwest Political Science Association
2012-2017: Regular appearances on KAKE’s This Week in Kansas (television, Wichita)
2011-: Part of the Insight Kansas group, authoring regular newspaper columns appearing in the Leavenworth Times, Wichita Eagle, Topeka Capital, Lawrence Journal-World, Emporia Gazette, Lawrence Journal-World, and other publications. Also maintain group’s website, send-out list and Twitter account.
2011-: Quoted in New York Times, The New Republic, CBS News Online, Wichita Eagle, Kansas City Star, Topeka Capital-Journal, Lawrence Journal-World, Emporia Gazette, Kansas Public Radio, Kansas City University Radio, and other media.
2023: Heart of a Hornet Emporia State University
2022: Panelist on Robert Dole retrospective on KTWU’s I’ve Got Issues, nominated for a regional EMMY Award (w/Bob Beatty, Amber Dickinson, and Steve Kraske, dir. Val VanDerSluis)
2019: Assessment Champion Emporia State University
2013: Nominated for the CQ Press Award for Teaching Innovation at the American Political Science Association Teaching & Learning Conference (nominated by The Honorable Bob Graham)
2024: Data Visualization & Dashboarding with R (five certificate course, Johns Hopkins University via Coursera).
2024-5: Completed Certificates in Python and Pandas, SQL, and Tableau
1999: Summer program, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan
2013-14: Kansas Leadership Center (w/colleagues from Emporia State University)
2008: Gamaliel Foundation, Advanced Leadership Training
2006: Gamaliel Foundation, Weeklong National Leadership Training
1999: Summer program, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan
2025: Chair, Philosophy and English Search Committee
2019-: Co-editor, Emporia State Research Studies
2019-: McNair Scholars Mentor
2016-: Emporia State Undergraduate Research Program (ESURP) mentor, Emporia State University
2007-: Campus Advisor, Harry S. Truman Scholarship, Emporia State University
2005-: Legislative Internship Supervisor Five interns in Congress (2015, 2017, 2022, 2023, and 2024), one at the Organization of American States (2015) and several in the Kansas Legislature
2013-2019: Member, Kansas Leadership Center/Emporia State “Trailblazers”
2007, 2012, 2024: Member, Faculty Retention Committee, Emporia State University (Moderator in 2012 and 2024).
2015-: Policy Fellow, Docking Institute for Public Affairs
2015-: Reviewer, University Press of Kansas
2015-: Reviewer, Palgrave Pivot
2015-16: Member, conference planning committee, Great Plains Political Science Association
2015: Reviewer, Journal of Political Science
2014-15: Board Member, University Press of Kansas
R, SPSS/PASW, DRA2020, Arc-GIS, Python, SQL, Tableau, CANVAS, Blackboard, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams