Political and Policy History Research

Political history tells the story of how political power has been apportioned and wielded among members of a society over time. It extends beyond elites to include political parties, interest groups, and social movements, and how they engage state officials. Policy history highlights how governments, of various levels and various types, try to design and administrate laws. It reveals the institutional context in which state officials, elected or otherwise, exercise authority, manage conflict, enact laws, administer public policies, distribute resources, regulate social or economic activity, and conduct foreign relations. Focusing on different periods and locations, the work of a number of Ohio University faculty recounts citizens' relationships to one another and to the governments that purports to act on their behalf. More detailed information about below-listed faculty can be found on their faculty biography pages.

Patrick Barr-Melej

• Modern Latin America; Modern Period
• History of Chile
• Cultural Politics; History of Ideas; Revolutionary Movements; Dictatorship

John Brobst

• British Empire since 1783
• Geopolitics and Grand Strategy
• Naval and Intelligence History

Michele Clouse

• Europe; Early Modern Period
• Spain
• Medicine; Legal History

David Curp

• Europe; Modern Period
• Poland
• Ethno-National Relations; Religious Life; Church-State Relations

Joshua Hill

• East Asia; Modern Period
• China
• Political Ideas and Ideals; U.S.-China Relations

Kevin Mattson

• United States; Twentieth Century
• Intellectual History; Culture and Politics

Paul C. Milazzo

• United States; Twentieth Century
• Environment; Congress

Chester Pach

• United States; Twentieth Century
• International; Politics, Media, and Popular Culture

Assan Sarr

• Africa; Late Eighteenth through Twentieth Centuries
• The Senegal and Gambia River Basin
• Agrarian Society; Islam; Oral History

Brian Schoen

• Nineteenth Century United States; Early Republic and Civil War
• United States and the World
• Political Economy

Ingo Trauschweizer

• Transatlantic History; Alliances
• United States and the World; Cold War
• War and the State; War and Culture

Mirna Zakic

• Europe; Modern Period
• Germany
• National Socialism; Ideology and Society