Elizabeth Dorssom is a Ph.D. candidate in the political science department at the University of Missouri. Her research focuses on the impact of resources on politics and policy. Specifically, she is interested in understanding how resources such as information, institutionalization, and professionalism impact policy adoption and feedback and, therefore, promote quality government. Her dissertation explores the influence of such resources at the congressional and state legislative level by examining legislative position-taking as well as legislative outputs such as sunset provisions.
She uses a variety of methods in her research, including both qualitative methods – such as interviews, case study research, and text analysis – and quantitative methods, such as survey and field experiments. She is a 2020-2021 Humane Studies Fellow through the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University and was previously an Oskar Morgenstern Fellow through the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Elizabeth is the first in her family to pursue an academic career and is grateful for the support of the First Generation Scholar Grant that allowed her to attend the 2020 APSA Annual Meeting.
About the APSA First Generation Scholar in the Profession Accessibility Grant
In 2015, the APSA Executive Council approved a new standing Committee on First Generation Higher Education Scholars in the Profession, parallel to the existing APSA status committees. The goal is to bring focused attention to the ways in which class, economic inequality, and mobility can affect political scientists’ ability to thrive educationally and professionally, perhaps throughout their careers. The APSA Committee on the Status of First Generation Scholars matched contributions that were made to the APSA Annual Fund during one week in October 2020 to support the professional development support of first gen scholars in the profession. Learn more.
