Sarah Treul Roberts
I am a 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 in 2009. My primary research interests are American political institutions, and especially the U.S. Congress. My current work focuses on congressional primary elections, the rise of inexperienced candidates and members of Congress, and representation.
Research
Book
Primary Elections and Candidate Experience
- “Issue Attention in Congressional Primary Elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly, forthcoming.
- “Legislative Effectiveness, Progressive Ambition, and Electoral Success.” American Political Science Review, 2026.
- “CampaignView: A Database of Policy Platforms and Biographical Narratives for Congressional Candidates.” Nature Scientific Data, 2025.
- “Prior Experience and State Legislative Effectiveness.” Legislative Studies Quarterly, forthcoming.
- “Evaluating (In)Experience in Congressional Elections.” American Journal of Political Science 69 (January 2025).
- “The Selling of Experience in the 2022 Congressional Elections.” Journal of Political Marketing 23 (2024): 1–14.
- “Changing the Dialogue: Descriptive Candidacies and Position-Taking in Campaigns for the U.S. House of Representatives.” Journal of Politics 86 (April 2024): 458–474.
- “The Primary Path for Turning Legislative Effectiveness into Electoral Success.” Journal of Politics 84(3): 1714–1726.
- “Inexperienced or Anti-establishment? Voter Preferences for Outsider Congressional Candidates.” Research and Politics 8(3): 1–7.
- “Running as a Woman? Candidate Presentation in the 2018 Midterms.” Political Research Quarterly 73 (June 2020): 967–987.
- “Ideological Primary Competition and Congressional Behavior.” Congress and the Presidency 46 (May 2019): 471–494.
- “Ideological Primaries and their Influence in Congress.” 2018. In Routledge Handbook of Primary Elections, ed. Robert Boatright. Routledge.
- “Competitive Primaries and Party Division in Congressional Elections.” Electoral Studies 35 (September 2014): 140–149.
- “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.
- “The Influence of Presidential Primary Elections on Congressional Primary Turnout.” 2026. In Reforming Elections, eds. Robert G. Boatright and Richard Barton. De Gruyter.
Representation
- “Primary Barriers to Working Class Representation.” Political Research Quarterly 76 (September 2023): 1516–1528.
- “The Electoral Consequences of Roll Call Voting: Health Care and the 2018 Election.” Political Behavior 44 (March 2022): 157–177.
- “Reevaluating the Substantive Representation of LGB Americans: A Multiverse Analysis.” Journal of Politics 83 (October 2021): 1837–1843.
- “The Symbolic and Substantive Representation of LGB Americans in the U.S. House.” Journal of Politics 77 (October 2015): 955–967.
- “Make the Right Bet: The Long-term Consequences of Successful Party Recruitment.” 2020. In New Directions in Congressional Politics, eds. Jamie L. Carson and Michael S. Lynch. Routledge.
Congress and Institutional Design
- “Majority Party Agenda Setting: Picking Fights or Avoiding Them?” Legislative Studies Quarterly 47 (August 2022): 605–637.
- “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.
- “Indirect Presidential Influence, State-level Approval, and Voting in the U.S. Senate.” American Politics Research 40 (March 2012): 355–379.
- “Ambition and Party Loyalty in the U.S. Senate.” American Politics Research 37 (May 2009): 449–464.
Judicial Politics
- “Understanding Uncontested Prosecutor Elections.” American Criminal Law Review 60 (Winter 2023): 31–77.
- “Emotions, Oral Arguments, and Supreme Court Decision Making.” Journal of Politics 73 (April 2011): 572–581.
- “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.
- “Congress and the Court: Resolving Campaign Finance Legislation.” 2012. In New Directions in Congressional Politics, ed. Jamie L. Carson. Routledge.
Media
- “Inexperienced Candidates Are Becoming More Common, But Only in One Party.” Vox, 2018.
- “Why More Inexperienced Candidates Are Running—And Winning.” FiveThirtyEight, by Geoffrey Skelley.
- Interview on 97.9 The Hill with Aaron Keck. On the future of Congress.
- A Conversation with Senator Thom Tillis and Cal Cunningham. Event moderator, The Program for Public Discourse.
Teaching
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POLI 100 — Introduction to American Politics
An introduction to the origins of the American governmental system, political institutions, political behavior, and how theories of American government apply to current problems.
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POLI 420 — The U.S. Congress
A detailed examination of the legislative branch: the origins and development of Congress, congressional campaigns and elections, representation, the committee system, parties, and the separation of powers.
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POLI 424 — Congress: Rules, Procedure, and Model Congress
A hands-on study of congressional rules and procedure, culminating in a Model Congress in which students draft, mark up, debate, and amend legislation.
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POLI 89 — First-Year Seminar: Political Entrepreneurship
An exploration of political leadership that puts service to community and country above party, challenging students to think beyond today's partisan framework and apply what they learn to a project of their own.
Curriculum Vitae
Contact
streul [at] unc [dot] edu
Office
324 Hamilton Hall
CB #3265
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Elsewhere