Frederic C. Schaffer

Comparative Politics

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

My subfield of specialization is comparative politics. My methodological writings develop language-centered approaches to foundational research tasks like comparing, interviewing, and working with concepts. Substantively, I study the meaning and practice of democracy across cultures and back in time. What sets much of my work apart from other empirical research on democracy is my methodological focus on language. By carefully examining the differing ways in which ordinary people around the world use terms such as "democracy," "politics," and "vote buying"—or their rough equivalents in other languages—I aim to arrive at a fuller appreciation of how they understand and make use of electoral institutions. At UMass, I offer undergraduate courses on the meaning of “politics,” the language of politics, and whether democracy is possible. At the graduate level, I offer the comparative politics proseminar and a seminar on studying politics through language.

Beyond UMass, I have chaired the Committee on Concepts and Methods of the International Political Science Association and the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods group of the American Political Science Association. I have also taught workshops on ethnographic interviewing, working with concepts, and interpretive research for the European Consortium for Political Research, the KiND Institute, the Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, the Methods Excellence Network (Denmark), Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), Concordia University (Canada), the University of Innsbruck (Austria), and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (Germany).  

Among my publications are Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture (1998), Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying (2007), The Hidden Costs of Clean Election Reform (2008), and Elucidating Social Science Concepts: An Interpretivist Guide (2016). My most recent work includes Two Ways to Compare in Rethinking Comparison: Innovative Methods for Qualitative Political Inquiry (2021) and a chapter on Interpretivist Interviewing in The Oxford Handbook of Engaged Methodological Pluralism in Political Science (2026). I am currently writing a conceptual history of “the voter.” Interviews with me appear in Democratic Theory (2023), Politologija (2020), and the New Books in Political Science (2020) podcast.

Drawing on my research into democracy and electoral administration, I have delivered lectures and keynote addresses around the world on democratizing democracy, the meaning of democracy, democracy in translation, and the hidden costs of clean election reform. I have also served as an election observer in Senegal, worked as an election specialist in Iraq and Haiti, and advised civic organizations in the Philippines.

• Professor Frederic Schaffer publishes The Hidden Costs of Clean Election Reform
• Professor Fred Schaffer elected Chair of the IPSA Concepts and Methods Committee

BOOKS

	Elucidating Social Science Concepts: An Interpretivist Guide U.S. edition (Routledge, 2016)
	The Hidden Costs of Clean Election Reform U.S. edition (Cornell University Press, 2008) Philippine edition (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2009)
	Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying U.S. edition (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007)  Philippine edition (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2007) South Asia edition (Viva Books, 2008)
	Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture U.S. edition (Cornell University Press, 1998)

SELECT ARTICLES, CHAPTERS, INTERVIEWS

"Interpretivist Interviewing." In Oxford Handbook of Engaged Methodological Pluralism, edited by Janet Box-Steffensmeier et al. New York: Oxford University Press (2026).

"Democracies Across Cultures: The Hegemonic Concept of Democracy has Dissolved, What Happens Now?" (with Jean-Paul Gagnon). Democratic Theory 10,1 (2023): 91-104.

"Two Ways to Compare." In Rethinking Comparison: Innovative Methods for Qualitative Political Inquiry, edited by Erica S. Simmons and Nicholas Rush Smith (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2021). 

Garškaitė, Rosita. "Democracy (and Science) in Translation. Interview with Frederic C. Schaffer."  Politologija (2020): 100,4:153-67.

"The Not-So-Individual Voter: Patriarchal Control and Familial Hedging in Political Elections around the World.” Journal of Women, Politics & Policy 35,4 (2014): 349-78.

"Thin Descriptions: The Limits of Survey Research on the Meaning of Democracy." Polity 46,3 (July2014): 303-30.

"Ordinary Language Interviewing." In Interpretation and Method: Empirical Research Methods and the Interpretive Turn, 2nd edition, edited by Dvora Yanow and Peregrine Schwartz-Shea (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 2014).

"Questions about Causes." Qualitative & Multi-method Research 11,2 (2013): 23-27.

"Discours sur la 'demokaraasi.'" In Communication Wolof et société sénégalaise: Héritage et création edited by Anna M. Diagne, Sascha Kessler, and Christian Meyer (Paris: Harmattan, 2011).

 "Is Everyone Else Doing It? Indiana’s Voter Identification Law in International Perspective" (co-authored with Tova Wang). Harvard Law & Policy Review (Summer 2009) 3,2: 397-412. 

"¿Qué es la compra de votos?" (co-authored with Andreas Schedler). In Candados, contrapesos y derechos: la protección de los programas, políticas y derechos sociales en México y América Latina (Mexico City: United Nations Development Program, 2009).

"Vote Buying in East Asia." Global Corruption Report 2004 (Transparency International, 2004).

"Might Cleaning Up Elections Keep People Away from the Polls? Comparative and Historical Perspectives." International Political Science Review (January 2002) 23, 1: 69-84.

"Do you speak politig? Les sens du politique en américain et en wolof." EspacesTemps 76/77 (2001): 139-51.

"Comparer la democracy américaine et la demokaraasi sénégalaise: comment les idéaux variant suivant les cultures."Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée 6,1 (1999): 247-66.

WORKING PAPERS

"What Is It We Do When We Ask Questions about Causes?" Political Methodology: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper 35, December 2012.

"Thin Descriptions: The Limits of Survey Research on the Meaning of Democracy." Political Concepts: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper 45, November 2010.

"Clean Elections and the Great Unwashed: Educating Voters in the Philippines." Occasional Paper 21, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study, 2005.

"Why Don’t Political Scientists Coin More New Terms?" Political Concepts: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper 7, September 2005.

"What is Vote Buying? The Limits of the Market Model" (coauthored with Andreas Schedler), 2005.

REPORTS AND BRIEFS

U.S. Supreme Court Amici Curiae Brief: Crawford v. Marion County Election Board, 2007.

International Mission for Iraqi Elections Assessment Team Final Report, 2006.

• Fulbright Scholar Program
• Fulbright-Hays DDRA
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Institute for Advanced Study
• Center for International Studies, MIT
• West Africa Research Association
• Phi Beta Kappa of Northern California
• U.S. Dept of Education

UMASS UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

• The Language of Politics
• Is Democracy Possible Anywhere?
• What is Politics?

UMASS GRADUATE COURSES

• The Language of Politics
• Comparative Politics Proseminar 

Interpretive Methodologies and Methods related group, American Political Science Association

Committee on Concepts and Methods, International Political Science Association