Greg Thorson
Political
Science Department
Phone: (320)589-6208
Fax: (320)589-6117
E-Mail:
WWW Page: http://www.morris.umn.edu/~gthorson/
RESEARCH/TEACHING SPECIALITIES
Judicial Politics, Constitutional Law, Elections,
Methodology, Political Parties, Interest Groups, Public Opinion, Legislative
Politics, Public Policy, Urban Politics, Media and Politics, Women and
Politics, The Presidency,
FACULTY POSITIONS
Tenure
Track
2001
– Present Associate
Professor of Political Science
1995
- 2001 Assistant
Professor of Political Science
EDUCATION
Ph.D. - Political Science, 1995.
University of California at Riverside.
Dissertation
Chair: Barbara Sinclair
Major
Areas: American Political Institutions
American
Political Processes
Minor
Area: Research
Methods
Graduated
Summa Cum Laude
M.A.
- Political Science,
at
B.A. - Political Science, May 1988.
Graduated Magna Cum Laude
PUBLICATIONS
Thorson,
Gregory R., Tasina Nitzschke, and Nicholas J. Maxwell. Forthcoming 2007.
“Testing
the Three Theories of Legislative Organization: An Examination of Rule
Assignments during the Postreform Period.”
Congress and the Presidency.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Jessica
Anderson. 2006. “The
Changes in
27-44.
Thorson, Gregory R., Neil Lindsheid, and Tara Schmidt. 2005. “The Search for
Affordable Health
Care in Rural
Based
Solutions.” Published jointly by the
Center for
Central Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.
Thorson, Gregory R. 2005. Review of Sarah Binder’s “Stalemate: Causes and
Consequences
of Legislative Gridlock”. Journal of Politics: 67:611-612.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Zoe Wong. 2004.
“Resource Distribution and Rural
Schools.” Published in Consortium Connections, a publication of the
Children, Youth, and Family Consortium. Volume: 13, Number 1.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Tara Schmidt. “A Health Care System in Critical Condition:
Evidence of the Declining Affordability of Health Care Insurance and the
Erosion
of Health Care Infrastructure in West
By the Center for Small Towns, November 2003.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Nicholas J. Maxwell. “Small Schools Under Siege:
Evidence of Resource Inequality in Minnesota Schools”. Published
by the Center for Rural Policy, August 2002.
Thorson, Gregory R. 2002. Review of Timothy J. Barnett’s “Legislative Learning:
The
104th Republican Freshmen in the House.” American
Political Science
Review. 96:202.
Thorson,
Gregory R. 2001. Review of Wendy J. Schiller’s “Partners and Rivals:
Representation in
Presidency. 28: 108-109.
Thorson, Gregory R. and former UMM student Tasina Nitzschke. 2000. "Politics and
Policy in The 103rd and 104th Congresses: Evaluating the Effects of Divided
Government in The
Postreform Era." Congress and the
Presidency. 27: 1-24.
Edmondson, Jacqueline., Gregory R. Thorson, and David Fluegel. 2000. “Searching for
Solutions: The
Community Vision Process in
Leadership, a publication of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development. 57: 51-53.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Jacqueline Edmondson. 2000. “Making Difficult Times
Worse:
The Impact of Per Pupil Funding Formulas on Rural
Schools.” Published by the Center for Rural Policy and Development,
of Education’s Educational Information Resource Center (ERIC)
Thorson, Gregory R. Introduction to American Government: An On-Line Reader.
2000. An on-line reader with accompanying notes and web site links for use in
introductory American government courses.
Thorson, Gregory R. 1999. Review of
Nicol C. Rae’s “Conservative
Reformers: The
Republican Freshmen and the Lessons of
the104th Congress”. American
Political Science Review. 93.4: 981-982.
Stambough, Stephen J. and Gregory R. Thorson. 1999. " Towards Stability in Presidential
Forecasting: The Development of a Multiple Indicator Model". The International Journal of Forecasting. 15:143-152.
Thorson,
Gregory R. 1998. "Divided
Government and the Passage of Partisan
Legislation, 1947-1990." Political Research Quarterly. 51.3:
751-764.
Thorson,
Gregory R. and Stephen J. Stambough. 1995. "Anti-Incumbency and the 1992
Elections: The Changing Face of
Presidential Coattails." Journal of Politics.
57. 1: 210-220.
BOOK ARTICLE
Valerie O’Regan, Stambough, Stephen J., and Gregory R. Thorson. Forthcoming
In 2007. “Understanding the Changing Dynamics of the Gender Gap in American
Presidential Elections, 1952- 2004”. An article included in a book prospectus, The Gender Gap: Voting and the Sexes. Edited by Lois Duke-Whitaker. Other articles in the volume written by Cal
and Janet Clark, Barbara Norrander, Susan Caroll, Elizabeth Matto, M. Margaret
Conway, Kathleen Frankovic, Kathleen Dolan, Margie Omero, Anna Greenberg, Bob
Carpenter, Heather Ondercin, Steven Green, and Laurel Elder. To be Published by the
Thorson, Gregory R., and Codie
Specketer. Pomme de Terre Park
Improvement
Plan. Project Completed August 2001.
Thorson, Gregory R., Jacquelyn
Edmondson, and David Fluegel. Strategic
Plan for
the
Thorson, Gregory R., Jacquelyn
Edmondson, and David Fluegel. Strategic
Plan for
The
Thorson, Gregory R. City of Morris Comprehensive Plan. Project
Completed for the
City of
Thorson, Gregory R., and UMM students Jason Lina, and Lynnae Glieden. "The Effects
of the Committee
Assignment Reforms on Committee Composition in the
House, 1969-1980.”
Thorson, Gregory R. and former UMM student Tasina Nitzschke. “The Senate Filibuster
and the Moderation of Policy Outcomes”.
DISSERTATION
“The
Impact of Divided Government on Coalition Formation in the
Dissertation Adviser: Barbara
Sinclair
RESEARCH CONFERENCES/PAPERS PRESENTED
Thorson, Gregory R. and UMM Student
Nathan Swanson. “Is the Electorate Polarized, or
Does It Just Vote that Way?: An
Examination of Policy Extremism and Voting
Behavior from 1960 to 2004” Paper to be Presented at the Annual Meeting
of
The
American Political Science Association in
Stambough Stephen. J. and Gregory R.
Thorson. “E-mail and Campaign
Interaction:
The Impact of Party, Office, and
Candidate Type on the use of campaign e
mails.”
Paper to be Presented at the Annual Meeting of The American Political
Science Association in
Thorson,
Gregory R. “Options for Lowering Health
Care Premiums for
Small
Connections: Healthy
Landscapes, Healthy People”, a forum held by
the West Central
Regional Sustainable Development Partnership in
MN, November 16,
2006.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Jessica
Anderson. “The
Changes in
Thorson, Gregory R. “The Effects of Funding Education through Fixed Per-Pupil
Formulas: Evidence of Resource Inequality between Large and Small Schools.”
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association
in
Thorson, Gregory R., Valerie O’Regan, and Stephen J. Stambough. “Understanding the
Changing Dynamics of the Gender Gap in American Presidential Elections,
1952-2004”. Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Political Science
Association in
Thorson, Gregory R., Jacqueline Edmondson, and Nicholas J. Maxwell.
“Towards a Better Understanding of the Origins and Consequences of
Inequality in Public School Funding: Measuring the Consequences of Fixed Per
Pupil Funding Formulas on Small, Rural Schools.” Paper Presented at the
Annual Meeting of
the American Political Science Association in
April 7-10, 2005.
Thorson, Gregory R., Layne Anderson, and Cody Specketer.
“The Strategic Use of Self-Executing Rules by
the House Majority Party
Leadership, 1991-1998.” Paper Presented at the
Annual Meeting of the
American Political Science Association in
Thorson, Gregory R. and Nicholas Maxwell J. Maxwell. “Small Schools Under
Siege: Evidence of Resource Inequality in Minnesota Schools”. Public Event
Held for Release of Our Paper at
Arrowwood Resort in
Governor Mae Schunk and Chair of the Senate P-12 Education Committee
Leroy Stumpf.
Served as a Discussant on a Panel of State Legislative Analysts at a Mini-conference
Held by the
Thorson, Gregory R., Nicholas J. Maxwell and Tasina Nitzschke. “Strategic Decision
Making and the Invoking of Cloture in the
Annual Meeting of
the American Political Science Association in
September 2001.
Thorson, Gregory R. “Using Service Learning to Teach Public Policy:
The Case of the Morris Ethanol Plant.” Service Learning Workshop
Attended at the Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association
in
Thorson, Gregory R., Tasina Nitzschke, and Nicholas J. Maxwell. “The Rules
Committee as an Arm of the Majority Party Leadership: An Examination of Rule
Assignment in the Postreform House.” Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of
the Midwest
Political Science Association in
Edmondson, Jacquelyn and Gregory R. Thorson. “Making Difficult Times Worse: The
Impact of Per Pupil Funding on
Rural Minnesota Schools.”
Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association national
conference in
Thorson, Gregory R. and UMM students Jason Lina and Lynnae Glieden. “Evaluating
the Effects of the Reform Period on Committee Composition in the
American Political Science Association
in
Thorson,
Gregory R. “Majority Party Power and Legislative Success in the
Meeting of
the American Political Science Association in
September
1999.
Thorson, Gregory R. and UMM student Tasina Nitzschke. “The Senate Filibuster and the
Moderation of Policy Outcomes: Truth or Myth?” Paper Presented at the
Midwest Political
Science Association Annual Meeting in
Thorson, Gregory R. and UMM student
Tasina Nitzschke. "The House Rules Committee:
A Test of the Three Theories of
Legislative Organization." Paper
Presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Political Science
Association (
Thorson, Gregory R. and UMM student Tasina Nitzschke. "Examining
the Effects of
Divided Government: A Comparison of the
103rd and 104th Congresses." Paper
to be Presented at the Annual Meeting
of the Midwest Political Science
Association (Chicago) in April 1998.
Thorson, Gregory R. “Committee
Coalitions and Special Rules in the House of
Representatives.” Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the
American Political
Science Association (
1996. Other panelist:
Thorson, Gregory R. “United
Government That Mattered: The 103rd Congress.”
Paper Presented at
the Annual Meeting of the
Science Association (Chicago) in April 1996. Discussant: David Mayhew
Thorson,
Gregory R. “The Effects of Divided Government on Committee Coalitions
and Rule Determination." Presented
at the Annual Meeting of the American
Political Science Association (
Thorson, Gregory R. and Stephen J.
Stambough. "Understanding the Gender Gap
through the Paradigm of the
Meeting of the American Political
Science Association (
September 1994.
Thorson, Gregory R. "Does
Divided Government Matter? A Reevaluation of
Mayhew's Thesis." Presented at the
Annual Meeting of the
Science Association (Chicago) in April
1994.
Thorson, Gregory R. and Stephen J.
Stambough. "The Proof is in the Pudding: The
Successes
and Failures of Presidential Vote Forecasting Models." Presented at the
Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting (
Thorson, Gregory R. and Stephen J.
Stambough. "The Case of the Vanishing
Marginals: Perot's Effect on
Congressional Margins." Presented at the
Annual Meeting of the Western Political
Science Association Annual Meeting
(
Stambough,
Stephen J. and Gregory R. Thorson. "Understanding Coattails: A
Reexamination
of the Basic Theory." Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American
Political Science Association Annual Meeting (Chicago) in September 1992.
“Health Care Reform: Time for
Another Minnesota Miracle?” Hosted by
the Center
For Rural Policy and Development in
Duluth, MN. June 18, 2007.
Minnesota Rural Health
Conference. “Growing Healthy Rural
Communities.” Held
In Duluth, MN on June 19, 2007.
2006
Rural Summit. “Working Better Together
for the Common Good.” Held in
Conjunction with the Symposium on
Small Towns. Held June 6-7, 2007 at the
2005
Resources
for Community & Economic Success.
Held July 28-29, 2005 at
Third
Annual Symposium on Small Towns. Served
as panel discussant on
The
Future of Rural Policy Panel. June 8,
2005. Held June 7-8, 2005 at UMM.
Chair
and Discussant for the Panel, “The Interaction Between Policy and
Institutions.”
Held March 3-5, 2005, at UMM.
Annual
Meeting of the American Political Science Association. Held in
“Rural
Hosted by the Center for Small Towns
at the
“Unicameral
Legislature: Promise and Performance.”
Association Annual Conference. Held at
TEACHING CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS
“Implementing Podcasting in the Classroom.” Web Conference Simulcast
at the
Michael Gay,
"Academic Freedom/Academic
Orthodoxy.”
Fall Faculty Workshop 2002. Held in
“How Learning Happens: Making Connections,
Constructing Knowledge, Building
Community.” Faculty Development Conference hosted by The
Collaboration
For
the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning.
November
1999.
"
Faculty Development Conference hosted by The Collaboration for the
Advancement of College Teaching and
Learning.
November 1998.
"Teaching
and Learning in Cyberspace." Faculty Development Conference hosted by The
Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning.
"Student-Centered Teaching Meets Technology: Converging for a New
Millenium". Faculty Development Conference hosted by The Collaboration for the
Advancement of College Teaching and
Learning. Held in
November 1997. Served on a panel, "Developing the Student-Centered Internet
Course: Issues, Obstacles, Strategies."
“The Changing Student Body: Teaching for a Brave New World.” Faculty Development
Conference hosted by The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching
and Learning. Held in
“Helping Your Students to Encounter and Accept Diversity.” Workshop Presented by
the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning at
“Creating
an Active Learning Classroom.” Led by
Thomas B. Jones, coauthor of Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the
College Classroom.
TEACHING
AWARDS/NOMINATIONS:
Nominated for Morris Alumni
Association Teaching Award, Spring 2006,
Spring 2002.
OTHER WORKSHOPS ATTENDED
Fall Faculty Retreats: 1995 – Current
Course in the Protection of Human Research Subjects (CITI). Completed online
In October 2006.
Opportunities Workshops. Held
Held
Held
GRANTS WRITING/ GRANTS RECEIVED
OTTO BREMER FOUNDATION GRANT
Period: 2006-07
Description: I authored a $44,000 grant from the Otto Bremer grant that was funded
in October 2006 for the purpose of supporting the formation of a Health Care Purchasing
SERVICE LEARNING FACULTY FELLOWSHIP
Period: 2006-2008
Description: Received grant award and attended three weeks of service learning training during the summer of 2006. I committed to three years of service learning projects.
Faculty Enrichment
Project
Project Title: Bush Foundation Faculty Development grant
Source: Bush Foundation
Award Period: September 1996-June 1997
Description: The program pairs a probationary faculty with a tenured faculty so that
issues
that are chosen by the mentee can be explored during frequent discussions. In addition, the Bush Foundation subsidized
the attendance of both mentor and mentee to attend a Bush workshop.
Educational Development
Grant
Project Title: Establishing Cyber-Sections in the American Government and
Politics Class
Source:
Curriculum Committee,
Award Period: Summer 1996
Description: Converted my traditional discussion section into a “cyber-section,”
where students went on “cyber field-trips,” engaged in “cyber
chat sessions”, and completed their weekly assignments via email.
Faculty Grant to Internationalize Courses at UMM
Project Title: Internationalizing the Study of Legislative Behavior: Moving Beyond the
Source:
Center for International Programs
Award
Period: Summer 1996
Description: Revised my legislative behavior class so as to incorporate a more comparative politics perspective. Previously, I covered major theories of
coalition building and institutional structure as predictors of legislative
outcomes in only the United States Congress. I expanded the scope to
include non-American legislatures.
BUSH FOUNDATION GRANT –
Period:
2005-2006
Proposal
for Bush Course Development Grant
Description: With the assistance of this Bush Course Development Grant, I will
implement student response systems, or “clickers”, into my classes so that I may
more accurately assess student learning of the material as well as offer rewards to
students who come to class prepared.
BUSH FOUNDATION GRANT –
Period:
2004-2005
Recipient
of Bush Course Development Grant, Participant in Bush IT Core Group,
Bush
IT Consulting Group
Description: With the assistance of this Bush Course Development Grant, I successfully
integrated a course Wiki into my Constitutional Law class. Students collaboratively
write course briefs that are
reviewed and evaluated in class.
CROSSROADS SERVICE LEARNING MINIGRANT
Project
Title: Assessment of City Services
Period:
Spring 2003
Description: My American Government class is working with the City of
Morris to assess resident satisfaction in many areas of public
policy. The survey was designed jointly by the class, the Morris
City Council, and the Morris Police Department.
CROSSROADS SERVICE LEARNING MINIGRANT
Project
Title: Examining Responses of
Citizens toward the Morris Ethanol Plant
Source: Funding provided by the Corporation for National Service through a
Learn and Serve
UMM Faculty Center for Learning and Teaching.
Award Period: Summer 2001
Description: To teach my class about local politics through a service learning project,
I had my class conduct a telephone survey that measured resident
attitudes to the presence of the ethanol plant in their community. Our
class also interviewed local political leaders, as well as leaders at the
ethanol plant (Denco) and the recently formed citizen group
Morris Residents for Clean Air. Students also investigated the history
and the economic impact of the ethanol plant in Morris. All results were
made public and published on the web and in the local library.
JSTOR Course Development Grant
Project Title: Integrating JSTOR Content into the College
Curriculum
Source: JSTOR
Award Period: Summer 2000
Description: Improved existing courses so as to integrate the use of top political
science
journals
that are stored electronically in JSTOR in order that students
would become more familiar with the extensive
search functions found within JSTOR as well as become more familiar with
current research published in top political science journals.
Project
Title: New Teachers New Technology
Grant
Source:
Award Period: Summer 2000
Description: Participated in a series of workshops that focused on the implementation
of
new technologies into the classroom, particularly geographic
information
systems (GIS) software and advanced web page
development
software (Dreamweaver).
Center for Rural Policy
and Development Small Grant II
Project Title: The
Effects of
Education in
Rural
Source:
Center for Rural Policy and Development,
Award Period: Summer 2000
Description: This project empirically demonstrates that the current per pupil formulas
used to fund
K-12 schools in
small rural schools in the areas of infrastructure, telecommunications,
and programming.
Center for Rural Policy
and Development Small Grant I
Project
Title: Making Difficult Times
Worse: The Impact of Per Pupil Funding
Formulas
on Rural Minnesota Schools
Source:
Center for Rural Policy and Development,
Award Period: Summer 1999
Description: This project empirically demonstrates that the current per pupil formulas
used to fund
K-12 schools in
disparities that disadvantage small rural schools.
Educational Development
Grant
Project Title: Establishing an Upper Division Research Methods Course
in Political Science
Source:
Curriculum Committee,
Award Period: Summer 1999
Description: Introduced a new upper division course in methodology designed
to familiarize students with the most common methodological
techniques used in political science.
Project
Title: Explaining the
Assignment of Special Rules in the Postreform House
Source:
Office of the Vice President for Research,
Award Period: Fall Semester 1999
Description: Examined patters of rule assignment in the U.S. House. Tested the
claims of competing models of congressional organization.
Project Title: The Effect of Divided Government on Coalition
Building
in the
Source: Office of the Vice President for
Research,
Award Period: Summer 1997
Description: Summer stipend to support ongoing research on the
effect that divided government has on the formation of
partisan coalitions in the United States Congress.
Project Title: Protecting Partisan Legislation: The Use of Restrictive Rules
Source:
Office of the Vice President for Research,
Award
Period: July 1996-December 1997
Description: Supported research that examined the tendency of the House Rules
Committee to adopt special rules that were more restrictive
on
legislation that passed out of committee with a partisan vote.
Faculty Enrichment
Project
Project Title: Bush Foundation Faculty Development grant
Source: Bush Foundation
Award Period: September 1996-June 1997
Description: The program pairs a probationary faculty with a tenured faculty so that
issues
that are chosen by the mentee can be explored during frequent discussions. In addition, the Bush Foundation subsidized
the attendance of both mentor and mentee to attend a Bush workshop.
Educational Development
Grant
Project Title: Establishing Cyber-Sections in the American Government and
Politics Class
Source:
Curriculum Committee,