MSC05 3070
Social Sciences Building 2059
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Phone: (505) 277-5104
Fax: (505) 277-2821
polsci@unm.edu
Personal Website: http://www.unm.edu/~kerevely
Curriculum Vitae
I received a Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science in July 2012 and hold an M.A. in Latin American Studies. My research interests include the comparative study of electoral systems, election administration, legislative behavior, political parties, and elections. My teaching interests include comparative politics, American politics, comparative democratic institutions, and Latin American politics.
My research agenda is motivated by a desire to understand the consequences of different democratic institutions on political behavior and public opinion, and how variations in institutions influence the understanding and practice of democratic representation. Democratic elections are designed to induce responsiveness from elected officials, and allow citizens to control their representatives. However, widespread variation in the design of representative institutions challenges the way in which scholars think about how elections produce representation in a comparative context.I am particularly interested in recent developments to institutionally engineer representation through the creation of new or hybrid institutions that alter the relationship between citizens and their representatives. Some examples include the rapid growth of mixed-member electoral systems and semi-presidential systems in the last few decades, as well as the increasing use of gender quota laws. The wide variation in the design of these institutions and their relatively recent growth means there are still several unanswered questions about how they affect the behavior of politicians, influence the political attitudes of citizens, and alter our understanding of democratic representation. I am also very interested in the study of election administration institutions from an academic and policy perspective, and how varying methods of administering elections influence the confidence of voters and political actors in the electoral process. My dissertation research examines the theoretical and empirical implications of removing the goal of reelection from the opportunities available to ambitious politicians. The pursuit of reelection is ubiquitous in theories that examine the behavior of legislators and the workings of democratic representation, yet in a comparative context, reelection is not always a viable goal for many actors. In order to understand how legislators represent when they cannot seek reelection, I engage in an in-depth study of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies over a twelve-year period. Mexico provides an ideal case to develop a theory of political ambition when reelection is not allowed, since all politicians are constitutionally prohibited from seeking consecutive reelection to the same office. Using an original dataset on the career paths of over 2,000 individual legislators, plus original data on bill sponsorship, pork-barreling, and roll-call voting across four legislative terms, and interviews with current and former legislators, I examine how variation in electoral rules and career choices alter the individual behavior of legislators.
Yann Kerevel has a forthcoming book chapter co-authored with Professor Lonna Atkeson comparing the accuracy of counting ballots by machine and by hand. The book, Confirming Elections: Creating Confidence and Integrity Through Election Auditing, will be published in 2012 by Palgrave Macmillan
Kerevel, Yann P., and Lonna Rae Atkeson. (under review). Explaining the Marginalization of Women in Legislative Institutions.
Kerevel, Yann P., Lonna Rae Atkeson, R. Michael Alvarez, and Thad Hall. (under review). Who Asks for Photo Identification? Explaining Poll Worker Discretion.
Kerevel, Yann P., and Lonna Rae Atkeson. forthcoming. Election Audits: Comparing Machine and Hand Counts. In Michael R. Alvarez, Lonna Rae Atkeson and Thad E. Hall (eds.). Confirming Elections: Creating Confidence and Integrity Through Election Auditing. Palgrave Macmillan.
Kerevel, Yann P. 2011. The Influence of Spanish Language Media on Latino Public Opinion and Group Consciousness. Social Science Quarterly 92(2): 509-534.
Kerevel, Yann P. 2010. The Legislative Consequences of Mexicos Mixed-Member Electoral System, 2000-2009. Electoral Studies 29(4): 691-703.
Rocca, Michael, Lonna Rae Atkeson, Yann P. Kerevel, and Lisa Bryant. 2010. Moving from Red to Blue: The 2008 New Mexico Presidential, Senate, and First Congressional Races. In David Magelby, ed. The Change Election: Money, Mobilization, and Persuasion in the 2008 Federal Elections. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Kerevel, Yann P. 2009. Election Management Bodies and Public Confidence in Elections: Lessons from Latin America. Washington, DC: International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
Atkeson, Lonna Rae, Yann P. Kerevel, and Lisa Bryant. 2009. Dragging the Ticket Down: The Influence of the Vice President on Vote Choice. Prepared for delivery at the Midwest Political Science Associations Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April 2-5.