CURRICULUM VITAE of ALASTAIR SMITH
July 2008
Wilf Family Department of Politics

New York University

19 West 4th Street, 2nd floor

NY NY 10012

 

(212) 992 9678 Fax: (212) 995-4184
email: alastair.smith@nyu.edu

EMPLOYMENT

Professor, Department of Politics, New York University, 05-

Deputy Director, Alexander Hamilton Center in Political Economy, New York University 07-08
Associate Chair, Department of Politics, New York University, 04-05

Associate Professor, Department of Politics, New York University, 02-05
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale University, 01-02
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale University, 98-01
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Washington University, 96-98
National Fellow, Hoover Institution On War Revolution and Peace, 1997-98.
Lecturer in Political Science and Social Thought and Analysis, Washington University, 95-96.
Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center in Political Economy, Washington University 94-95

EDUCATION
1990-94 UNIVERSITY of ROCHESTER, PhD. January 1995.
Dissertation: "A Theory of Alliances" Committee: Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Chair; David Austen Smith; Jeffrey Banks. Field exams in Statistical Methodology, International Relations and Positive Political Theory.

1986-90 OXFORD UNIVERSITY, Worcester College, England.
BA Hons Chemistry, with supplementary Molecular Biophysics. Research: High oxidation state manganese complexes with reference to photosystem II.
 

PUBLICATIONS

Books

1) Punishing the Prince. Princeton University Press, 2008. Co-authored with Fiona McGillivray

2) Election Timing 2004 Cambridge University Press

2) The Logic of Political Survival 2003 Co-authored with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Randolph Siverson and James Morrow. MIT Press
 

Journals

  1. A Political Economy of Aid, with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. Forthcoming in International Organization
  2. The Perils of Unearned Income 2008. Journal of Politics. 70(3): 780-793.
  3. Political Survival and Endogenous Institutional Change. (Forthcoming 2009) Comparative Political Studies (Coauthored with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita). Winner of the Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association for best paper at the annual meeting and the Franklin L. Burdette/ Pi Sigma Alpha Award for best paper at the 2007 annual meeting of the APSA
  4. Foreign Aid and Policy Concessions, 2007, with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 51(2): 251-284
  5. Selection Institutions and War Aims. Economics of Governance; 2006, 7(1): 31-52, with James Morrow, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Randolph Siverson.
  6. Divergent Beliefs in “Bargaining and the Nature of War” with Allan C. Stam. Journal of Conflict Resolution August 2006 50(4): 614-618.
  7. Credibility in Compliance and Punishment: Leader Specific Punishments and Credibility. With Fiona McGillivray, Journal of Politics, May 2006 68(2): 248-258.
  8. “Why International Organizations Will Continue to Fail Their Development Goals.” 2005 Perspective on Politics 3(3): 565-567.
  9. Qualitative Leverage and the Epistemology of Expert Opinion. With Sanford Gordon. Political Analysis, Summer 2005, 13(3): 280-291.
  10. The Impact of Leadership Turnover and Domestic Institutions on International Cooperation in a Noisy World. With Fiona McGillivray. Journal of Conflict Resolution, Oct 2005; 49: 639 – 660.
  11. Thinking Inside the Box: A Closer Look at Democracy and Human Rights. With Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Feryal Cherif and George Downs. Forthcoming, International Studies Quarterly.
  12. Bargaining and the Nature of War. Coauthored with Allan Stam. Journal of Conflict Resolution. 2004, 48(6, December): 783-813.
  13. Testing Novel Implications from the Selectorate Theory of War. Coauthored with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow and Randolph M. Siverson. World Politics April 2004 56: 363-388.
  14. Quantitative Leverage Through Qualitative Knowledge: Augmenting the Statistical Analysis of Complex Causes, 2004 with Sanford C. Gordon. Political Analysis 12: 233-255.
  15. Mediation and Peacekeeping in a Random Walk Model of Civil and Interstate War. Coauthored with Allan Stam  International Studies Review Volume 5, No. 4 557-578. Also to appear in Dissolving Boundaries, edited by Suzanne Werner, David Davis, and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. Blackwell Publishers.
  16. The Impact of Leadership Turnover on Relations Between States. Coauthored with Fiona McGillivray. International Organization. 58 Summer 2004: 567-600.
  17. Election Timing in Majoritarian Parliamentary Systems 2003. British Journal of Political Science, 33, 379-418.
  18. Political Institutions, Policy Choice and the Survival of Leaders with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James Morrow and Randolph Siverson. British Journal of Political Science. Volume 32  Issue 04  October 2002 p.559-590
  19. Honest Threats: The Interaction of Reputation and Political Institutions in International Crises. With Alexandra Guisinger. Journal of Conflict Resolution. April 2002 Vol 46. No. 2 pp. 175-200.
  20. "Payment, Protection and Punishment: The Role of Information and Reputation in the Mafia." With Federico Varesse. Rationality and Society Vol 13. No. 3 August 2001.
  21. Political Institutions and Incentives to Govern Effectively written with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, and Randolph M. Siverson. Journal of Democracy. January  2001 12(1): 58-72.
  22. Trust and Cooperation through Agent Specific Punishments. Written with Fiona McGillivray. International Organization. 54,4 Autumn 2000, p. 809-824.
  23. An Institutional Explanation of the Democratic Peace written with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, and Randolph M. Siverson American Political Science Review. December 1999. December 93(4):791-808.
  24. Testing Theories of Strategic Choice: The Example of Crisis Escalation. American Journal of Political Science Vol. 43 No. 4 p. 1254-1283..
  25. So You Say You Want a Revolution: A Game Theoretic Explanation of Revolution in Repressive Regimes.  Journal of Conflict Resolution June 1999 with John Peter Ginkel
  26. "Policy Failure and Political Survival: the Contribution of Political Institutions" Journal of Conflict Resolution 43 (April 1999) with Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, and Randolph M. Siverson.
  27. "International Crises and Domestic Politics" American Political Science Review, September 1998. Vol. 92. No.3. p. 623-638.
  28. "Fighting Battles, Winning Wars." Journal of Conflict Resolution June 1998 Vol. 42, No. 3, pp.301-320.
  29. "A Summary of Political Selection: The Effect of Strategic Choice on the Escalation of International Crises." American Journal of Political Science. Vol. 42, No. 2, p.698-701.
  30. "Deterring Enemies and Reassuring Friends: Extended Deterrence and Alliance Formation" International Interaction. Vol.24, No. 4, pp. 315-343.
  31. "Institutional Determinants of Trade Policy" 1997. Written with Fiona E. S. McGillivray. International Interactions Vol. 23 No. 2. p. 119-143.
  32. "The Shadow of the Polls: Electoral Effects On International Agreements" Written with David Hayes. International Interactions 1997. Vol. 23 No. 1. p.79-108.
  33. "Endogenous Election Timing in Majoritarian Parliamentary Systems" 1996. Economics and Politics Vol.8 No. 2 p. 85-110.
  34. "The Success and Use of Sanctions" 1996. International Interactions Vol. 21, No. 3 p. 229-245.
  35. "To Intervene Or Not To Intervene: A Biased Decision" 1996. Journal of Conflict Resolution Vol. 40, No. 1, p. 16-40.
  36. "Diversionary Foreign Policy in Democratic Systems" 1996. International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 1, p. 133-153.
  37. "Alliance Formation and War," 1995. International Studies Quarterly Vol. 39, No. 4, p.405-425.

Book Chapters

  1. When Likely Losers Choose War. With Allan Stam. In New Directions for International Relations: Confronting the Methods of Analysis Problem Edited by Alex Mintz and Bruce Russett. Lexington Books; February 2005 p.179-198
  2. The Survival of Political Leaders and IMF Programs. With James Vreeland. (2006)  In Gustav Ranis, James Vreeland, and Stephen Kosack (eds.) Globalization and the Nation State: The Impact of the IMF and the World Bank. New York: Routledge, pp. 263-289.
  3. “The Selectorate Model: A Theory of Political Institutions” September 2002. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson and Alastair Smith, in Joseph Berger and Morris Zelditch (ed.) New Directions in Sociological Theory: The Growth of Contemporary Theory.  Lanham, Maryland: Rowan and Littlefield
  4. "Political Survival and International Conflict" Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson and Alastair Smith, in Zeev Maoz and Azar Gat (Editors), War in the Changing World, University of Michigan Press, 2001. p.183-206.
  5. Political Institutions, Political Survival and Policy Success. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson and Alastair Smith. in Governing for Prosperity (ed.) Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Hilton Root. Forthcoming 1999 New Haven, Ct.: Yale University Press.
  6. "The Effect of Foreign Policy Statements on Foreign Nations and Domestic Electorates." 1998, in Strategic Politicians, Institutions and Foreign Policy, edited by Randy Siverson, Ann Arbor MI: University of Michigan Press. pp. 221-254.
  7. "Political Survival and International Conflict" Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, James D. Morrow, Randolph M. Siverson and Alastair Smith, in Zeev Maoz and Azar Gat (Editors), War in the Changing World, University of Michigan Press, 1999

Other Publications

  1. Making and Breaking Democracies Societal Conditions Conducive to Democracy. http://www.thepolitic.org/: Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. March, 2003
  2. Personalizing Crises. Essays in Public Policy No. 106. Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, 2000.

AWARDS
The Franklin L. Burdette/ Pi Sigma Alpha Award for best paper at the 2007 annual meeting of the APSA.

 

Winner of the Political Economy Section of the American Political Science Association Prize for the best paper presented at the annual meeting 2007, “Political Survival and Endogenous Institutional Change.”

 

Karl Deutsch Award, 2005 from the International Studies Association, Distinguished Young Scholar

Conflict Processes Section of the American Political Science Association Book Prize, 2002-2005, for The Logic of Political Survival.

Principal Investigator on NSF Grant SES-0226926 The Impact of Leadership Turnover and Regime Type on the Evolution and Maintenance of International Cooperation $75,000.                                                      

Principal Investigator on NSF Grant SES-99-75352.Election Timing in Parliamentary Democracies.

Editoral Board Award for Excellence in Research, International International 1998 (Vol. 23) for "Institutional Determinants of Trade Policy" (coauthored with Fiona McGillivray)

Principal Investigator on NSF Grant SBR-9631990. Domestic Politics and International Relations

National Fellow, Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford.1997-98.

Midwest Political Science Association poster competition winner 1997: "Political Selection: The Effect of Strategic Choice on the Escalation of International Crises."

Worshipful Company of Coopers Award for Academic Excellence 1986.

WorcesterCollege Graduate Fellowship to the University of Rochester 1990.

Rush-Rhees Fellowship, University of Rochester, 1991.

Half blues 1988 and 1989 for Oxford vs. Cambridge Lightweight Varsity Boat Race.