Faculty

Phulwani

Pontuso

James F. Pontuso is teaching The American Political Tradition, a course in the Politics Department. He has authored or edited seven books and published more than one-hundred articles, reviews, and essays. His latest book, “Nature's Virtue,” was published by St. Augustine's Press in 2019. He has taught or lectured in a dozen countries including as John Adams Fellow at the University of London, Fulbright scholar Czech Republic, and visiting Professor at the American University of Iraq - Sulaimani.

Carter

Christopher Carter is a John L. Nau III Assistant Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy in the Politics Department. His primary research agenda examines how indigenous populations mobilize to make demands on the state. In his book project, he investigates the formation of ethnic and class identities in Latin America.

Zhirkov

Kirill Zhirkov is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. Kirill's methodological research focuses on measurement of politically relevant beliefs and attitudes beyond standard survey self-reports. He uses these methods to address a number of substantive questions in the field of political psychology.

Rivero

I am a John L. Nau III Assistant Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia. I study judicial politics in the United States, with particular interests in the lower federal courts and public attitudes toward the judiciary. One ongoing project considers how the U.S. federal court system shapes the decision-making of lower court judges, focusing on how judges on the U.S.

Charette

Danielle Charette is the Associate Director for the Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy and an Assistant Professor of Politics in the General Faculty. She is a political theorist focused on tensions between republican institutions and the emergence of political economy in the eighteenth century, especially in the writings of David Hume. Her research has appeared in journals such as the American Political Science Review, Political Studies, the History of Political Thought, and the History of European Ideas.

Winter

I study American politics—with focus on public opinion, political psychology, and gender, race & politics—and methodology—with focus on statistical analysis, research design, and experimental methods. I joined the department at UVa in the Fall of 2006; prior to that I held a tenure track position in the Government Department at Cornell; worked as a policy researcher at Policy Studies Associates in Washington, DC; and worked as a political campaign consultant, also in Washington. I received my Ph.D.

Walsh

Denise Walsh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and the Department of Women, Gender & Sexuality at the University of Virginia, and a co-editor of the American Political Science Review. Her research investigates how liberal democracies can become more inclusive and just. Walsh's current book project, Weaponizing Rights: The Politics of Debating Culture and Women's Rights, compares policy debates about the face veil ban in France, polygyny in South Africa, and Indigenous women’s citizenship status in Canada.

Sechser

Todd S. Sechser is the Pamela Feinour Edmonds and Franklin S. Edmonds, Jr. Discovery Professor of Politics; Professor of Public Policy at the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy; and a Senior Fellow at the Miller Center of Public Affairs.

Waldner

David Waldner (Ph.D. Berkeley) is interested in the formation of the modern state, the political economy of economic development, and the origins of democracy and dictatorship. He also writes on qualitative methods of causal inference. His most recent book is Rethinking the Resource Curse.

Department of Politics