Frederic C. Schaffer
Professor of Political Science
Office Hours:
Spring 2024. Zoom office hours only: Tuesdays 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm and by appointment. Please email me for the Zoom link
Degree: Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Area of Study: Comparative politics
Program: Political Science
Bio
My subfield of specialization is comparative politics and my methodological areas of expertise are interviewing, working with concepts, and interpretivism. Substantively, I study the meaning of democracy, the practice of voting, and the administration of elections. 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 or desirable everywhere. At the graduate level I offer the comparative politics proseminar and a seminar on studying politics through language.
Beyond UMass, I am a board member and past chair of the Committee on Concepts and Methods of the International Political Science Association, founding member of the Methods Excellence Network, and past chair of the Interpretive Methodologies and Methods related group of the American Political Science Association. I teach ethnographic interviewing at the yearly Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research hosted by Syracuse University. I also offer workshops on working with concepts organized by the European Consortium for Political Research as well as by the KiND Institute in collaboration with the Southern Political Science Association. I have taught similar workshops at institutions such as Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), Concordia University (Canada), the University of Innsbruck (Austria), and and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (Germany). I also recently offered an intensive Doing Interpretive Research workshop organized by the Methods Excellence Network and hosted by Department of Political Science at the University of Aarhus, Denmark. In addition, I have frequently served as a “concepts expert” at the Methods Café held during the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association.
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 (forthcoming). I am currently writing a conceptual history of “the voter.”
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.
Publications
BOOKS
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Elucidating Social Science Concepts: An Interpretivist Guide
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The Hidden Costs of Clean Election Reform
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Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying
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Democracy in Translation: Understanding Politics in an Unfamiliar Culture
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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 (2023).
"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. Download (pdf) (312.51 KB)
"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. Download (pdf) (101.9 KB)
"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 Methodlogy: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper 35, December 2012. Download (pdf) (128.22 KB)
"Thin Descriptions: The Limits of Survey Research on the Meaning of Democracy." Political Concepts: Committee on Concepts and Methods Working Paper 45, November 2010. Download (pdf) (236.67 KB)
"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.
Grants and Fellowships
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
Teaching
UMASS UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
The Language of Politics
Is Democracy Possible Everywhere?
What is Politics?
UMASS GRADUATE COURSES
The Language of Politics
Comparative Politics Proseminar
RECENT AND UPCOMING WORKSHOPS AND SHORT COURSES
Working with Concepts (July 2024), European Consortium for Political Research Virtual Summer School
Working with Concepts (May 2024), European Consortium for Political Research Signature Course
Ethnographic Methods (June 2023), Institute for Qualitative and Multi-Method Research, Syracuse, NY
Elucidating Concepts: An Interpretivist Approach (June 2023), KiND Institute, Southern Political Science Association summer virtual conference
Doing Interpretive Research (October 2022), Methods Excellence Network, University of Aarhus, Denmark