The Social Policy Preference Network (SPPN) was founded in 2017 by Liza G. Steele (U.S.) and Nate Breznau (Germany).
Liza Steele is aan Associate Professor of Sociology (with early tenure) at the City University of New York (CUNY), John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a member of the doctoral faculty at The CUNY Graduate Center, and a faculty affiliate at the CUNY Institute for Demographic Research (CIDR). Her research is at the nexus of Sociology and Political Science. Currently, she researches attitudes towards income inequality, immigrants, and social welfare policies ("social policy preferences" or "preferences for redistribution"). This ongoing work on policy preferences is divided into two lines of research: (1) diversity and migration, and (2) wealth, elites, and social mobility. More generally, her research focuses on how social stratification and economic inequality affect the development of beliefs, attitudes, and values through the lens of cross-national comparison. Her previous research includes in-depth studies of Brazil and China. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods in her research, and has a working knowledge of French, Chinese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Professor Steele received her PhD in Sociology from Princeton University, and holds Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Political Science and International Affairs from Columbia University.
Email: lsteele at alumni dot princeton dot edu
Nate Breznau is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bremen, Germany. He is working on a larger project at the Collaborative Research Center 1342, "The Global Dynamics of Social Policy". His research focuses on the linkages between public opinion and social policy. He received his PhD in Sociology from the Bremen International Graduate School of Social Sciences; MA at the University of Nevada, Reno; and BA at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
His is the PI of a German Science Foundation project investigating the "Reciprocal Relationship of Public Opinion and Social Policy" and focuses on and how this shapes (and is shaped by) the nature of social inequality across rich democracies. He also looks at the role of values in shaping public preferences and the stratification of outcomes. Other key research interests are individual attitudes, the micro-macro link, institutions, welfare states, immigration and income inequality.
Email: breznau dot nate at gmail dot com