Charles Shipan | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Charles Shipan
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Faculty by courtesy

Charles R. Shipan

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Professor of Social Sciences; Professor of Public Policy (by courtesy)
(734) 615-6929 [email protected]

Charles R. Shipan is the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Professor of Social Sciences, with a courtesy appointment at the Ford School. 

Prior to joining the faculty at Michigan, Shipan served on the faculty at the University of Iowa, and he has also held visiting positions at the Brookings Institution, Trinity College (Dublin), the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney, the London School of Economics, and Australian National University.

He is the author of Designing Judicial Review, co-author of Deliberate Discretion?, and has written numerous articles and book chapters on political institutions and public policy. He is currently engaged in a comparative study of antismoking laws in the U.S. and Switzerland, an assessment of the president's ability to change policy, and an examination of the effects of bipartisanship on public policy. Shipan received a BA in chemistry from Carleton College and an MA and PhD in political science from Stanford University.

Educational background

  • PhD in political science, Stanford University
  • BA in chemistry, Carleton College

Recent publications

  • "Why Bad Policies Spread (and Good Ones Don’t)" Cambridge University Press. Co-authored with Craig Volden.
  • "How Many Major Laws Delegate to Federal Agencies? (Almost) All of Them." Forthcoming. Political Science Research and Methods. Coauthored with Pamela J. Clouser McCann.
  • "Where is Presidential Power? Action, Expectations, and Executive Discretion." Forthcoming. British Journal of Political Science. Coauthored with Kenneth Lowande.
  • "Policy Diffusion: The Issue Definition Stage." 2021. American Journal of Political Science 65 (1): 21-35. Coauthored with Fabrizio Gilardi and Bruno Wüest.
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