The School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) is proud to showcase the outstanding scholarship of our faculty and students at the 2026 Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) Annual Conference. This multi-day event brings together leading political science experts from across the country, and SPIA is well represented with presentations, panels, and discussions on topics ranging from judicial politics and international conflict to public opinion and political behavior. Below is a comprehensive list of sessions featuring University of Georgia participants, with SPIA-affiliated scholars highlighted in bold.
Thursday, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Canal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Economic Voting Public Opinion
Chair: Emily Anne West, University of Pittsburgh
Presentations:
- In Search of the Party of the People: Vanishing Class-based Party Images in American Politics
- Stephen Nicholson, University of Georgia
- Joseph Ornstein, University of Georgia
- Gary M. Segura, UCLA
- Andrew Stone, University of Georgia
Thursday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #3: Support for Courts
Chair: Amanda Driscoll, Florida State University
Presentations:
- Supreme Court Decisions, Public Engagement, and Court Support – Joshua Boston, Bowling Green State University; Chris Krewson, Brigham Young University
- Beyond the Battery: What Americans Really Think About Supreme Court Legitimacy – Taraleigh Davis, Bradley University; Sara Benesh, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- Symbolic Ideology, Policy Views, and Supreme Court Behavior – Albert Rivero, University of Virginia
- Emotional Responses to Supreme Court Decisions and their Impact on Court Approval – Nathan Carrington, Saint Louis University; Shana Kushner Gadarian, Syracuse University; Bethany Albertson, University of Texas at Austin
- Due Diligence? How the Nuclear Option Transformed Judicial Vetting – Morrgan Herlihy, Penn State University
Discussants: Logan Strother, Purdue University; Jonathan King, University of Georgia
Thursday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Commerce – 3rd Floor
Panel: Domestic Politics and Conflict
Chair: Jeff Carter, Appalachian State University
Presentations:
- The Strategy of Wartime Issue Manipulation – Doug Atkinson, Brigham Young University; Andy Owsiak, University of Georgia
Thursday, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #3: Judges on Apex Courts
Chair: Jay Krehbiel, University at Buffalo
Presentations:
- Recuse Me? Using the Stevens Papers to Understand Recusal – Jacob Berg, West Virginia University; Abigail Hassett, Transylvania University; Jonathan King, University of Georgia; Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Thursday, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Churchill C2 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #10: Immigration Attitudes and Political Behavior
Chair: Natalie Chwalisz, Dickinson College
Presentations:
- Dangerous Stereotypes: Correcting Misperceptions about Undocumented Immigrants to Promote Inclusionary Preferences – Natán Skigin, University of Georgia
Thursday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #3: Judicial Procedures
Chair: Michael J Nelson, Penn State
Presentations:
- Injunction Junction: The Supreme Court and the Politics of Nationwide Relief – Miles Armaly, University of Mississippi; Jonathan King, University of Georgia; Elizabeth Lane, North Carolina State University; Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Thursday, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | Steering – Riverside Building
Panel: Presidential Power and Leadership I
Chair: Ryan Carlin, Georgia State University
Presentations:
- The Strategic Presidency: The Politics of Symbolic Executive Action – Yao Yao, University of Georgia
Friday, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Canal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Anti-Intellectualism and Higher Education
Chair: Kathryn Robison, The University of Sydney
Presentations:
- Anti-Intellectualism in Appalachia – Tabitha A. Lamberth, University of Georgia
Friday, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Kobacoff – Riverside Building
Panel: Causal Inference with Complications
Chair: Carlisle Rainey, Florida State University
Presentations:
- Dynamic Causal Inference Using Changepoint Models – Garrett Vande Kamp, University of Georgia; Soren Jordan, Texas A&M University
Friday, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Churchill B2 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #10: Author Meets Critics – In Our Interest: How Democracies Can Make Immigration Popular
Chair: Alex Sager, Portland State University
Discussants: Miranda Simon, University of Essex; Christopher Blair, Princeton University; Natán Skigin, University of Georgia; Alex Sager, Portland State University
Friday, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #3: The Diversification of the Bench
Chair: Eileen Braman, Indiana University
Presentations:
- Changing Tides: How Diversifying the Federal Bench Changes the Supreme Court Bar – Jonathan King, University of Georgia; Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia; Katelyn Stauffer, University of Georgia
Friday, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM | Ascot – 3rd Floor
Panel: Political Behavior in Latin America
Chair: Isabel Laterzo-Tingley, University of Texas at Austin
Presentations:
- Bringing Communities Back to Community Policing – Natán Skigin, University of Georgia; Guillermo Trejo, University of Notre Dame; Shannan Mattiace, Allegheny College
Friday, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: CwC #3: State Courts and Judicial Elections
Chair: Rorie Solberg, Oregon State University
Presentations:
- Interbranch Relations and Public Evaluations of the Judiciary – Teena Wilhelm, University of Georgia; David Hughes, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Friday, 12:30 PM – 1:45 PM | Trafalgar – 3rd Floor
Panel: Formal Models of Electoral Politics
Chair: Georg Vanberg, Duke University
Presentations:
- Ranked-Choice Voting with Different Elimination Procedures – Keith Dougherty, University of Georgia; Spenceer Katzman, University of Georgia
Friday, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Jackson – 3rd Floor
Panel: SPSA Women: Strategies & Support for Faculty Workload Management
Discussant: Susan Haire, University of Georgia
Friday, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Norwich – 3rd Floor
Panel: Legislating on the Climate
Chair: Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Friday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Bridge – Riverside Building
Panel: Reconsidering Contextual Considerations and Elections
Discussant: Katelyn Stauffer, University of Georgia
Friday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Canal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Partisanship and Trust in Political Institutions
Presentations:
- Blurring the Lines? Cues and Accountability in Shared Policymaking – Yao Yao, University of Georgia
Friday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Churchill C1 – 2nd Floor
Panel: Prosecutors and Litigation
Discussant: Jessica Schoenherr, University of Georgia
Friday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Eglinton Winton – 2nd Floor
Panel: Race and Respectability Politics Strategies
Presentations:
- Between a Black and Hard Place: Racial Authenticity in American Politics – Karlee Lynne Kimbrell, University of Georgia
Friday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Jackson – 3rd Floor
Panel: SPSA Women: Connections & Conversations
Discussant: Katelyn Stauffer, University of Georgia
Friday, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | Eglinton Winton – 2nd Floor
Panel: Democracy in Action: Theories and Practices of Participation
Presentations:
- Shadow Factions: The Dictator’s Local Dilemma – Yuge Wang, University of Georgia
Friday, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | Steering – Riverside Building
Panel: Author Meets Critics: Murder on the Mississippi
Discussants: Saladin Ambar, Rutgers University; Jamie Carson, University of Georgia
Saturday, 8:00 AM – 9:15 AM | Camp – 3rd Floor
Panel: Drivers of Engagement in Polarized America
Presentations:
- Civic Friendship in the Age of Trump – Saladin Ambar, Rutgers University; Gbemende Johnson, University of Georgia; Drew A. Kurlowski, Coastal Carolina University; Justin Vaughn, Coastal Carolina University
Saturday, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Commerce – 3rd Floor
Panel: Third Party Intervention
Chair: Andy Owsiak, University of Georgia
Discussants: Andy Owsiak, University of Georgia; Uchenna Hillprieston Okwara, University of Central Florida
Saturday, 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM | Royal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Perspectives on Law and Courts
Discussant: Teena Wilhelm, University of Georgia
Saturday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Churchill B2 – 2nd Floor
Panel: Judicial and Public Constraints on Executive Power
Presentations:
- The People’s Attorney? Examining Public Trust in the Prosecutor’s Office – Damon Cann, Utah State University; Jamie Carson, University of Georgia; Jeffrey Yates, Binghamton University; Joshua Baldwin, University of Georgia
Saturday, 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM | Royal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Staffing the Bench: From Recruitment to Retirement
Presentations:
- The Consequences of Politicization in Turnover on the Lower Federal Courts – Richard L. Vining, University of Georgia; Jake Truscott, University of Florida
Saturday, 2:00 PM – 3:15 PM | Royal – 3rd Floor
Panel: Text-Based Approaches to Understanding Identity in the Courts
Presentations:
- The Prevalence (and Necessity) of Feminine Confidence in Judicial Leadership – Teena Wilhelm, University of Georgia; Richard L. Vining, University of Georgia; Levi Hudson, University of Georgia
Saturday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Eglinton Winton – 2nd Floor
Panel: Comparative Perspectives on Feminist Movements
Presentations:
- The Femin[ist] Mystique: How Definitions of Feminism Shape Affect and Identity – Elizabeth Connors, University of South Carolina; Katelyn Stauffer, University of Georgia
Saturday, 3:30 PM – 4:45 PM | Magazine – 3rd Floor
Panel: Federalism & Intergovernmental Relations
Discussant: Nathan M. Jordan, University of Georgia
Saturday, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | Durham – 3rd Floor
Panel: State Policy: Agendas, Design, and Diffusion
Presentations:
- Civil Rights Policy Diffusion in the States: The CROWN Act, 2019–2025 – Nathan M. Jordan, University of Georgia
Saturday, 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM | Jackson – 3rd Floor
Panel: Representation in Congress
Presentations:
- The Impact of Redistricting on Candidates in Congressional Primary Elections – Jamie Carson, University of Georgia; David Cottrell, University of Georgia
