I am a Ph.D. candidate in political science at the University of California, San Diego. I study diplomatic negotiations and the causes of political violence.
In my dissertation, Wars for the People: Leaders, Audiences, and the Use of Force, I evaluate how leaders escalate or settle military disputes in response to domestic pressure. Using game theory, experimental and observational data, and historical cases, I demonstrate that constituents are often overly optimistic about the results of military escalation. Domestic enthusiasm for war can even motivate politicians to take aggressive actions that leaders themselves consider counterproductive for the country as a whole.
My next major project, The Governance Market: Insurgency, Civil Conflict, and the Accountable State, is a book manuscript with Alexei Abrahams. We argue that citizens living in fragile states face a tradeoff between empowering a government to enforce order and deterring the government from engaging in abuse. Citizens, however, can resolve this dilemma by nurturing insurgent groups that challenge state control. Using game theory and evidence from a series of historic and contemporary conflicts, we identify conditions in which the threat of insurgency will either provoke civil violence or, alternatively, motivate incumbent regimes to establish political guarantees for citizens. The results invite a fundamental rethinking of the ethical and practical implications of foreign intervention; the causes of conflict recidivism; and the overall relationship between civilians, insurgents, and governance outcomes.
Finally, before joining UCSD I worked as the debate coach at Lewis & Clark College. As such, some of my earlier publications relate to argumentation theory and communication pedagogy. If you have questions or wish to contact me, please email bmerrell@ucsd.edu.
University of California, San Diego
Southern Illinois University
Western Kentucky University
Institute for Global Conflict and Cooperation
Lewis & Clark College
"Denmark, 1940-1945: Armed Resistance and Agency Slippage in Germany's Model Protectorate"
"Unprogrammed Abandonment of Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting"
"Vetoing the Peace: The Agency Dilemma in Crisis Decision-Making"
"The War Referendum: Hawkish Preferences and Domestic Support for War"
"The Secrecy Gambit: Clandestine Power Shifts and Preventive Conflict"
"Monopolies of Violence? Civil Insurgency and the Accountability Deficit"
"Media Bias in Presidential Press Questions"
"Renaming and Credit Claiming in Federal Agencies"
"Debate across the Disciplines: Structured Classroom Debates in Interdisciplinary Curricula"
"Back to its Roots: Accuracy as the Litmus Test for Topicality"
"The Intersection of Competitions and Classrooms in Forensics Pedagogy"
"Illegal Wildlife Trafficking - The Unseen Environmental Harms"
Applied Data Analysis for Political Science (x2)
Crisis Areas in World Politics (x2)
Data Analysis for the Social Sciences
International Crisis Diplomacy
Introduction to American Politics
Mathematical and Statistical Foundations (graduate, x3)
International Politics & Security (graduate)
Introduction to International Relations (x3)
Frontiers of Political Science (honors thesis seminar, x2)
Policy Responses to Global Problems (graduate research capstone)
Political Science Research Apprenticeship Program
Postwar Politics in Japan (graduate)
Brandon Merrell
University of California, San Diego
Department of Political Science
Social Sciences Building 301
9500 Gilman Drive, 0521
La Jolla, CA 92093-0521
Email: bmerrell@ucsd.edu
Homepage: www.brandonmerrell.com
Office: Social Science Building 448