About Me
I am currently an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Georgia. I was previously an Associate Professor of Government at Hamilton College between July 2012 and July 2022. I received my doctorate in Political Science from Vanderbilt University in 2012.
Research and Teaching
My research interests include American institutions, judicial politics, executive branch politics, and judicial diversity. I also have interests in race and politics. I have taught courses on American Government, Courts and Judicial Process, Bureaucracy, the American Presidency, and the Politics of Equality. During my time at Hamilton College I also taught the American Government sequence for Hamilton’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), which worked to prepare students from underrepresented groups for a college-level curriculum.
Government Transparency
In 2022, I was appointed to the federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee by Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall for the 2022-2024 term. The Committee examines ways to improve the performance and implementation of the Freedom of Information Act for all stakeholders. Each term the committee develops FOIA recommendations for Congress and the Executive Branch. For the 2022-2024 term, I served as Co-Chair of the Resources Subcommittee (with Co-Chair Paul Chalmers, Deputy General Counsel of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation). In addition to working with the sub-committee to develop recommendations aimed at addressing FOIA resource challenges, my responsibilities included taking part in interviews of FOIA officials and launching a survey of FOIA professionals at the 2023 American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) meeting. You can read about some of the work of the Resources Subcommittee here in reporting by the Federal News Network. You can also find the final Resources Subcommittee Report here.
During the Fall 2021 Semester, I served as a APSA Pracademic Fellow working with the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). OGIS is a bureau of the National Archives and Records Administration and serves as the FOIA Ombudsman for the federal executive branch. I discuss my experience working with OGIS here.
In 2021, I was awarded a $242,000 National Science Foundation grant to examine Freedom of Information litigation in federal courts (with Tracey George co-PI, Vanderbilt University).
Judicial Diversity
In 2022 I, along with a team of scholars (Jarpa Dawuni PI, Alice Kang, Daniel Gomez Mazo), was awarded a $700,000 National Science Foundation grant to examine judicial diversity in eight countries.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of Political Science
School of Public & International Affairs
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
[email protected]
twitter: @GbemendeJ
Research and Teaching
My research interests include American institutions, judicial politics, executive branch politics, and judicial diversity. I also have interests in race and politics. I have taught courses on American Government, Courts and Judicial Process, Bureaucracy, the American Presidency, and the Politics of Equality. During my time at Hamilton College I also taught the American Government sequence for Hamilton’s Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP), which worked to prepare students from underrepresented groups for a college-level curriculum.
Government Transparency
In 2022, I was appointed to the federal Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee by Acting Archivist of the United States Debra Steidel Wall for the 2022-2024 term. The Committee examines ways to improve the performance and implementation of the Freedom of Information Act for all stakeholders. Each term the committee develops FOIA recommendations for Congress and the Executive Branch. For the 2022-2024 term, I served as Co-Chair of the Resources Subcommittee (with Co-Chair Paul Chalmers, Deputy General Counsel of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation). In addition to working with the sub-committee to develop recommendations aimed at addressing FOIA resource challenges, my responsibilities included taking part in interviews of FOIA officials and launching a survey of FOIA professionals at the 2023 American Society of Access Professionals (ASAP) meeting. You can read about some of the work of the Resources Subcommittee here in reporting by the Federal News Network. You can also find the final Resources Subcommittee Report here.
During the Fall 2021 Semester, I served as a APSA Pracademic Fellow working with the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). OGIS is a bureau of the National Archives and Records Administration and serves as the FOIA Ombudsman for the federal executive branch. I discuss my experience working with OGIS here.
In 2021, I was awarded a $242,000 National Science Foundation grant to examine Freedom of Information litigation in federal courts (with Tracey George co-PI, Vanderbilt University).
Judicial Diversity
In 2022 I, along with a team of scholars (Jarpa Dawuni PI, Alice Kang, Daniel Gomez Mazo), was awarded a $700,000 National Science Foundation grant to examine judicial diversity in eight countries.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Department of Political Science
School of Public & International Affairs
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
[email protected]
twitter: @GbemendeJ