Theoretical Research in Institutional Politics (TRIPS)

The TRIPS Research Group at Ohio State University includes faculty members and graduate students with common interests in the theoretical study of political institutions. Centered in the Political Science Department, this group concentrates its efforts on cutting-edge research framed around: (1) the creation of theoretical models of political interactions, and (2) the testing of the predictions arising from these models, consistent with the recent National Science Foundation-sponsored Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM) initiative. The Research Group supports theoretical scholarship in American politics, comparative politics, international relations, and political theory.

The Research Group is a complement to the department's Program in Statistics and Methodology (PRISM). The Political Science Department at Ohio State University is particularly strong in exploring the overlap between theoretical and empirical studies of political phenomena. TRIPS and PRISM emphasize the synergies among different methodological approaches in political science.

TRIPS has a number of components that help advance the research scholarship of affiliated faculty and graduate students. The Department's Colloquium on Positive Political Economy brings several guest speakers to the department throughout the year. The American Political Institutions Reading Group meets about once per month to discuss the top recently published (or forthcoming) books focused on American political institutions. The TRIPS Working Paper Series includes recent academic work by group members, which are circulated and discussed within the group. Graduate students affiliated with the group are incorporated as active members in the Reading Group and in the Working Paper Series, and have the opportunity to work closely with TRIPS affiliated faculty members.

Faculty affiliated with the TRIPS Research Group include: Bear Braumoeller, Greg Caldeira, William Minozzi, Irfan Nooruddin, Alex Thompson, Daniel Verdier, Craig Volden, Alan Wiseman, Jack Wright.

Examples of some areas of study by TRIPS faculty members include:

• The role of political parties in Congress and among the electorate
• The effect of campaign contributions on legislative voting
• Preference dependency in surveys and voting
• The efficiency of international economic sanctions
• The diffusion of policy innovations across state governments
• The effect of partisan gerrymandering on state legislative composition