Sahar Abi-Hassan
PhD Candidate in Political Science
"Here it is, valeat quantum. Do not undertake a scientific career in quest of fame or money. There are easier and better ways to reach them. Undertake it only if nothing else will satisfy you; for nothing else is probably what you will receive. Your reward will be the widening of the horizon as you climb. And if you achieve that reward you will ask no other.”
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin
About
My research focuses on the impact of institutional dynamics and discursive interactions on the formation of political attitudes and behavior. My interests include political institutions and political behavior, political analysis, and quantitative political methodology. She is currently working on a project that examines the role of US interest groups in influencing judicial behavior on the US Supreme Court. I served as the Quantitative Methods Fellow in 2016-2017, and a Senior Teaching Fellow in 2018.
Ongoing Projects
A Network Approach to Influence: Interest Group Composition and Judicial Behavior
This paper investigates how the quality of interest groups, and their decision to compete or cooperate, influences public policy through the judicial branch.
Dissensus on the Court: Litigant's Path and Interest Groups
Empirical study of interest groups participation on all Supreme Court cases between 1999 and 2009. Tests the influence of powerful and diverse groups on judicial behavior.
The Downstream Effects of Writ of Certiorari and Dissensus on the Supreme Court
How a justice's decision on the merit stage of the litigation is shaped by choices made at the moment of granting writ.
Published Work
Forthcoming
Chapter 13: Populism in Venezuela: The role of the opposition. In the “The Ideational Approach to Populism: Concept, Theory and Method", edited by Kirk Hawkins, Ryan Carlin, Levi Littvay, and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser.
2017
Chapter 22: Gender and Populism. In the “Oxford Handbook of Populism", edited by Pierre Ostiguy, Paul Taggart and Cristobal Rovira-Kaltwasser
2015
“Populist Discourse and the Remaking of the Political Opposition in Venezuela." Uruguayan Journal of Political Science. Vol. 24(2) 29-48
Overview of Courses
PO-320
Law, Courts and Public Policy
Senior Teaching Fellow
Spring 2018
This course investigates the role of the judiciary in the policy-making process. We compare the courts with other political institutions and how much they differ in their policy-making role. The objective is to develop an understanding of the courts as political actors.
PO-843Advanced Techniques in Empirical Analysis:
Maximum Likelihood Estimation
Teaching Fellow
Spring 2017
This is a summary of your course. Include an overall description of the class, significant concepts that are taught and any other relevant information that would be helpful for a potential student. It’s also a good idea to mention any specific requirements for materials or time commitment outside of class.
PO-141Intro to Public Policy
Teaching Fellow
Spring 2016, Summer 2016, Summer 2017
This is an applied course in quantitative empirical analysis. We focus on cases in which the assumptions of ordinary least squares (OLS) may be violated, in particular when the data are discrete, truncated, or non-normally distributed.