Meredith Rolfe

Meredith Rolfe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science. Before arriving at UMass, Dr. Rolfe served as a postdoctoral research fellow at Nuffield College, University of Oxford, a senior research fellow at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and a fellow and lecturer in the Department of Management at the LSE, where she served as director for the MSc Public Management and Governance program. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE) from the London School of Economics (LSE).

Dr. Rolfe’s research uses multiple methodological approaches to study the role of social networks in political behavior. Her book Voter Turnout: A Social Theory of Voting (Cambridge University Press) won a Best Book Award from the Political Networks section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). In other published work, she has developed and analyzed computational models of social behavior, and explored tools for researchers interested in making causal inferences using network data. In addition, her work has explored empirical phenomena such as the gender gap in public opinion, the formation of political networks, ethnicity-based wage gaps in labor markets, and the sources and impact of corporations’ social reputations. Her current projects include an ongoing evaluation of the impact of campaign finance reform (co-authored with a consortium including Professor Ray La Raja of UMass), and the development of text and data management packages for R with the DACSS tech team.

Dr. Rolfe has served on the American Political Science Association (APSA) Teaching Award Committee and as a section head for the SPSA’s Political Networks section and the MPSA’s Early Career Professional Development Roundtables. She also served as vice-chair and later chair of APSA’s Political Networks section.