Carol Mershon is a Professor in the UVa Department of Politics. Mershon received her Ph.D. in Political Science, with Distinction, from Yale University. Her research examines intraparty competition, the dynamics of party systems, multiparty government, legislative politics, political institutions, and race, ethnicity, and indigeneity. Mershon’s articles have appeared in such journals as American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Politics, Journal of Theoretical Politics, and Social Science & Medicine. Her fifth and most recent book is Formal Modeling in Social Science (with Olga Shvetsova, Michigan 2019).

The recipient of three awards from the National Science Foundation, Mershon has also held three Fulbright grants and a Social Science Research Council Fellowship. She has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Politics. A former president of the Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society, Mershon serves on the International Scientific Board, Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica / Italian Political Science Review. In 2018, the Conference Group on Italian Politics and Society recognized Mershon with the Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2019-2021, Mershon co-chaired the American Political Science Association’s Presidential Task Force on Systemic Inequalities in the Discipline.