Meet The New Council Members: James Mahoney

James MahoneyJames Mahoney is the Gordon Fulcher Professor in Decision-Making and Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Northwestern University.  He is a comparative‐historical researcher with interests in national development, political regimes, Latin American politics, and qualitative methodology.

Mahoney is the author of Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press, 2010), which received five major book awards, and of the earlier prize-winning book, The Legacies of Liberalism: Path Dependence and Political Regimes in Central America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001).  He is also coeditor of Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences (Cambridge University Press, 2003).  Mahoney’s article publications have been recognized with several awards, and he has received grants from the National Science Foundation, including a Career Award.

Mahoney has been President or Chair of four different Organized Sections of American Political Science Association and the American Sociological Association.  He has received two mid-career achievement awards for his work on methodology.  He is coeditor of the Strategies for Social Inquiry book series at Cambridge University Press.

Statement of views:  I would consider it a privilege to serve on the APSA Council.  I am a longstanding advocate of methodological pluralism in the discipline.  I am also strongly committed to promoting diversity in the profession.  If elected, I would work to ensure that APSA continues to support question-driven research employing a diverse range of methodologies, including both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.  I would also promote APSA’s work on mentoring programs for students and junior faculty, especially for women and underrepresented groups in the discipline.


The APSA Nominating Committee met on February 13, 2015, and nominated the slate of officers and council members to serve beginning in fall 2015. The call for nominations was circulated widely among the membership with outreach to APSA committees and organized sections. The nominating committee made its decisions after careful deliberation and due consideration for the diversity of the field and the varied interests of political scientists. There were no additional nominees from the members, and council members and officers were approved in October 2015 by the APSA Council, under its power to fill interim vacancies (APSA Constitution, Article V). APSA welcomes the new council members and other officers to APSA leadership.