Sarah Treul Roberts
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Email:
streul (at) unc (dot) edu
Office:
Department of Political Science
University of North Carolina
318 Hamilton Hall
CB#3265
Chapel Hill, NC
Hello! I'm Sarah
I am an Associate Professor in the political science department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I received my Ph.D from the University of Minnesota (2009). My primary research interests are American political institutions, specifically the U.S. Congress. My current research agenda focuses on congressional primary elections, the rise of inexperienced candidates and members of Congress, and representation.
RESEARCH
Primary Elections:
1. “Assessing Strategic Voting in the 2008 US Presidential Primaries: The Role of Electoral Context, Institutional Rules, and Negative Votes.” Public Choice, 161(December 2014): 517-536. With D. Sunshine Hillygus.
2. “Competitive Primaries and Party Division in Congressional Elections.” Electoral Studies, 35(September 2014): 140-149. With Caitlin E. Jewitt.
3. “Ideological Primaries and their Influence in Congress.” 2018. In Routledge Handbook of Primary Elections. ed. Robert Boatright. Routledge. With Caitlin E. Jewitt.
4. "Ideological Primary Competition and Congressional Behavior." Congress and the Presidency, 46(May 2019): 471-494. With Caitlin E. Jewitt.
5. "Running as a Woman?: Candidate Presentation in the 2018 Midterms." Political Research Quarterly, 73(June 2020): 967-987. With Maura McDonald and Rachel Porter.
6. "Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success." Forthcoming. Journal of Politics. With Danielle Thomsen, Craig Volden, and Alan Wiseman.
7. "Inexperienced or Anti-establishment? Voter Preferences for Outsider Congressional Candidates." Research and Politics, 8(3): 1-7. Available online. With Eric Hansen.
8. "Changing the Dialogue: Descriptive Candidacies & Position-Taking in Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives." Journal of Politics, Forthcoming. With Rachel Porter and Maura McDonald.
9. "Understanding Prosector Elections."American Criminal Law Review, Forthcoming. With Carissa Byrne Hessick and Alexander Love.
10. "Primary Barriers to Working Class Representation." Political Research Quarterly, Forthcoming. With Eric Hansen.
Institutional Design:
1. Book: Agenda Crossover: The Influence of State Delegations in Congress (Cambridge University Press)
Reviewed by Charles S. Bullock III in Perspectives on Politics, 16(March 2018): 246-48.
Reviewed by Scott R. Meinke in Journal of Politics, 81(January 2019).
Reviewed by Jennifer Selin in Political Science Quarterly, 132(4)(2018): 590-592.
2. “Assessing Strategic Voting in the 2008 US Presidential Primaries: The Role of Electoral Context, Institutional Rules, and Negative Votes.” Public Choice, 161(December 2014): 517-536. With D. Sunshine Hillygus.
3. “Party Committee Targeting and the Evolution of Competition in U.S. House Elections.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, 26(January 2016): 96-114. With Jacob F.H. Smith and Jason M. Roberts.
4. "Majority Party Agenda Setting: Picking Fights or Avoiding Them?" Legislative Studies Quarterly, 47(August 2022): 605-637. With Austin Bussing.
Representation in Congress
1. Book: Agenda Crossover: The Influence of State Delegations in Congress (Cambridge University Press)
Reviewed by Charles S. Bullock III in Perspectives on Politics, 16(March 2018): 246-48.
Reviewed by Scott R. Meinke in Journal of Politics, 81(January 2019).
Reviewed by Jennifer Selin in Political Science Quarterly, 132(4)(2018): 590-592.
2. “The Symbolic and Substantive Representation of LGB Americans in the U.S. House.” Journal of Politics, 77(October 2015): 955-967. With Eric R. Hansen.
3. “Indirect Presidential Influence, State-level Approval, and Voting in the U.S. Senate.” American Politics Research, 40(March 2012): 355-379. With Caitlin E. Dwyer.
4. “Ambition and Party Loyalty in the U.S. Senate.” American Politics Research. 37(May 2009): 449-464.
5. "The Electoral Consequences of Roll Call Voting: Health Care and the 2018 Election." Political Behavior, 44(March 2022): 157-177. With Austin Bussing, Will Patton, Jason M. Roberts.
-Interviewed on Matt Grossman's podcast, The Science of Politics, episode 71 "How Republicans Lost 2018 by Being Too Close to Trump."
6. "Reevaluating the Substantive Representation of LGB Americans: A Multiverse Analysis." Journal of Politics, 83(4): 1837-1843. With Eric Hansen and Joey Saraceno.
7. "Inexperienced or Anti-establishment? Voter Preferences for Outsider Congressional Candidates." Research and Politics, 8(3): 1-7. Available online here. With Eric Hansen.
8. "Changing the Dialogue: Descriptive Candidacies & Position-Taking in Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives." Journal of Politics, Forthcoming. With Rachel Porter and Maura McDonald.
9. "Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success." Forthcoming. Journal of Politics. With Danielle Thomsen, Craig Volden, and Alan Wiseman.
10. "Primary Barriers to Working Class Representation." Political Research Quarterly, Forthcoming. With Eric Hansen.
Judicial Politics
1. “Emotions, Oral Arguments, and Supreme Court Decision Making.” Journal of Politics, 73(April 2011): 572-581. With Ryan Black, Timothy R. Johnson and Jerry Goldman.
2. “Predicting the Outcome of Supreme Court Cases at Oral Arguments: A Linguistic Analysis.” Washington University Journal of Law and Policy, 29 (Spring 2009): 241-261. With Timothy R. Johnson, Ryan Black and Jerry Goldman.
3. “Congress and the Court: Resolving Campaign Finance Legislation.” 2012. In New Directions in Congressional Politics. ed. Jamie L. Carson. Routledge.
4. Understanding Prosector Elections." American Criminal Law Review, Forthcoming. With Carissa Byrne Hessick and Alexander Love.
MEDIA
Articles, Interviews, Events
1. “Inexperienced Candidates Are Becoming More Common, But Only in One Party." Vox. With Rachel Porter. (PDF)
2. "Why More Inexperienced Candidates are Running-- And Winning." FiveThirtyEight. by Geoffrey Skelley.
3. Interview on 97.9 The Hill with Aaron Keck.
4. "A Conversation with Senator Thomas Tillis and Cal Cunningham." Event moderator for The Program for Public Discourse.
POLI 100
POLI 420
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is intended as a detailed examination of the legislative branch of the United States' government. The course focuses on the origins and developments for the U.S. Congress, congressional campaigns and elections, representation, the committee system, the role of political parties, and the separation of powers system. This class does not specifically focus on legislative procedure (please consider taking 424 if that is your area of interest). However, procedure will be tangentially covered throughout the semester.
POLI 424
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is intended to educate students in the workings of the U.S. Congress by first introducing them to the relevant literature in the field and then allowing them to actively participate in the democratic process. In this course we will discuss rules and procedures for the U.S. Congress, the influence of party on members, how the legislative agenda is determined, and the pressing issues of the day. The culminating event of the course will be a Model Congress. In the Model Congress each student will compose a detailed bill, introduce his/her bill, markup legislation in committee, and debate and amend legislation on the floor. This course requires your active participation, research, and creative thinking.
POLI 89 (First Year Seminar)
COURSE DESCRIPTION
An entrepreneur has been defined as one who identifies an opportunity, gathers the necessary resources, creates a project or venture, and takes ultimate responsibility for its success. Political entrepreneurship is the idea of creatively crafting political leadership for the remainder of this century. Political entrepreneurship puts service to the community or country above service to a political party, and challenges us to think beyond the partisan framework of today in order to be an effective leader. The course will address a series of topics that encourage all of us to hang up our partisan hats to tackle real issues, and develop qualities of political leaders. It will also provide you with an opportunity to apply the knowledge you gain to a project of venture you will develop as a part of a final project.
TEACHING
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is an introduction to American politics. In this course we will discuss the origins of the current governmental system in America, political institutions, political behavior, and how theories of American government apply to current events and problems the government and citizens face today.
CURRICULUM VITAE
DATA & RESOURCES
CONTACT
Sarah Treul Roberts
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
Email:
streul (at) unc (dot) edu
Office:
Department of Political Science
University of North Carolina
318 Hamilton Hall
CB#3265
Chapel Hill, NC