Open gallery

Susan Orr, Ph.D

Professor: (585) 395-2584
sorr@brockport.edu
Office: Hartwell Hall 209 C

Education

PhD. Political Science, (2010) University of Florida
M.A. Political Science, (2004) University of Florida
B.A. Economics, suma cum laude (2002), Rollins College

Courses Taught

Perspectives on Citizenship Politics of Work and Labor
Political Science Research Methods American Politics
Perspectives on American Democracy American Political Issues

Research Interests

My research centres on civic engagement. I am interested to understand what motivates civic engagement on an individual level, and the kinds of institutions that serve to facilitate or thwart democratic engagement at the aggregate level. I approach this topic from both empirical and normative perspectives. One focus of my work is the mechanics of elections – by that I mean the small scale institutions such as the secret ballot that regulate how citizens vote.

A second research focus is the intersection of the workplace and political engagement. One of my projects evaluates the process of forming labor unions through secret ballot elections as per current labor law against alternatives that are potentially more democratic. I have also studied how labor unions influence the political behavior of their members. For example, one of my projects explores the effect of labor union membership on the likelihood that citizens with various demographic characteristics will turnout to vote. More recent projects have examined the impact of worker cooperatives on the political behavior of workers as well as policies that foster the development of worker-owned businesses.

Susan Orr and James Johnson. Should Secret Voting Be Mandatory? Polity Press, Oxford UK 2020

Susan Orr and James Johnson. “Models, Mechanisms, Metrics: The Entanglement of Methods of Policy Inquiry with Democratic Possibilities In Routledge Handbook of Ethics and Public Policy. Edited by Annabelle Lever & Andrei Poama. Pages 62-75 (2018)

Susan Orr and James Johnson. “What’s a Political Theorist to Do? Rawls, the Fair Value of the Basic Political Liberties, and the Collapse of the Distinction Between Ideal and Nonideal Theory” Theoria 65:1-23 (2018).

Susan Orr and James Johnson. “Cooperative Democracy & Political-Economic Development: The Civic Potential of Worker Coops,” The Good Society. 26: 234-54 (2017).

Susan Orr and Peter Franicia. 2014. “Labor Unions and the Mobilization of Latino Voters: Can the Dinosaur Awaken the Sleeping Giant?” Political Research Quarterly, Volume 67, Number 4 (p943-946)

Susan Orr and Dena Levy. 2014. “Balancing the Books: Analyzing the Impact of a Federal Budget Deliberative Simulation on Student Learning and Opinion” Journal of Political Science Education, Volume 10, Issue 1 (p62-80)

Susan Orr. 2013. “The Civic Institute Relocated: Designing a Syllabus for Undergraduate Students at a Public University” The Good Society, Volume 22, Number 2, 2013 (p172-186)

Susan Orr. 2012. “Is Democracy in the Cards?: A Democratic Defense of the Employee Free Choice Act” in Nelson Lichtenstein and Ellie Shermer, eds. The American Right and U.S. Labor: Politics, Ideology, and Imagination. University of Pennsylvania Press, Forthcoming

Susan Orr and Peter Francia. 2011 “Labor and Business Interest Groups” in CQ Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying, CQ Press, Washington DC.

Susan Orr. 2010. “Symposium: Forty Years since J. David Greenstone’s Labor in American Politics: Reflections and Future Directions,” (Editor and contributor). Polity

Susan E. Orr and Michael Hoover. 2006. “Youth Political Engagement: Why Rock the Vote Hits the Wrong Note” in Dan Shea and John Green eds. Fountain of Youth: Strategies and Tacics for Engaging Young American Voters. Boulder, Rowman and Littlefield.

Service

My service broadly tracks my research interests. I serve as President of the campus chapter of United University Professions. Previously I have served as chair and member of the American Democracy Project Committee a group that aims to promote civic engagement on campus. I have served as Chair and as a member of the American Political Science Association’s Status Committee on Contingent Labor and also as co-chair of the American Political Science Association’s Labor Project. I also have the pleasure of being the campus liaison for the Washington DC Internship Program, New York State Assembly Internship Program and the Public Service Internship Program.