Melissa Rogers
Professor of Political Science
Co-Director, Inequality and Policy Research Center
I am Professor of Political Science and Director of the Inequality and Policy Research Center at Claremont Graduate University. I am an elected member of the APSA Council. My research examines how spatial inequalities impact politics, focused on fiscal and welfare policies, and Native American voting rights. I publish in the fields of American politics, comparative politics, spatial political methodology, political geography, political economy, and political institutions. I earned my PhD and MA from the University of California, San Diego, and BA from Brown University.
Education
2005-2010
Ph.D. in Political Science
University of California, San Diego
2003-2005
MA in Political Science
University of California, San Diego
1997-2001
BA in Political Science and International Relations
Brown University
Academic Positions
2025-Present
Professor
Claremont Graduate University
2019-2025
Associate Professor
Claremont Graduate University
2019-2022
Associate Dean
School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation
Claremont Graduate University
2018-Present
Co-Director
Inequality and Policy Research Center
2019-2021, 2025
Director and Chair
Division of Politics and Economics
Department of International Studies
2011-2018
Assistant Professor
Claremont Graduate University
2010-2011
Visiting Assistant Professor
Claremont Graduate University
Books
Divided by Design: Spatial Isolation, Segregation, and Native American Political Power, Book Manuscript. (w/ Jean Schroedel)
Space and Politics, Book Manuscript (w/Pablo Beramendi
Geography, Capacity and Inequality I: Spatial Inequality
Cambridge University Press, 2022. (w/ Pablo Beramendi).
The Politics of Place and Limits to Redistribution
Routledge Press, 2015.
Recent Journal Articles
Comparative Political Economy
Asymmetric Decentralization and Inequality. Annals of Regional Science (2026) 75:153 (w/ Pablo Beramendi). doi:10.1007/s00168-026-01586-4
Vote Your Region or Your Income? Decomposing Variance in Redistributive Voting. Territory, Politics, Governance (2025) (w/ Dong Wook Lee). doi:10.1080/21622671.2025.2474527
Political Decentralisation and the Spatial Distribution of Infant Mortality in Less Developed Nations. Regional Studies (2024) 59(1) (w/ Pablo Beramendi, Soomin Oh). doi:10.1080/00343404.2024.2348587
Does Democracy Matter for Lifespan Inequalities? Regime Type and Premature Mortality by Sex. Studies in Comparative International Development (2023) 58(3): 511-537 (w/ Ana Salazar, Javier Rodriguez, Rena Salayeva). doi:10.1007/s12116-023-09407-x
Political Sources of Urban Concentration in Latin America. Regional Studies, Regional Science (2024) 11(1): 1-21 (w/ Soha Hammam). doi:10.1080/21681376.2023.2289911
Inter-regional Inequality and the Dynamics of Government Spending, Journal of Politics (2019) 81(2): 487-504. (w/ Dong Wook Lee). doi:10.1086/701634
Fiscal Decentralization and the Distributive Incidence of the Great Recession, Regional Studies (2020) 54(7): 881-896 (w/ Pablo Beramendi). doi:10.1080/00343404.2019.1652895
Intra-elite Competition and Long-run Fiscal Development, Journal of Politics (2019) 81(1): 49-65. (w/ Pablo Beramendi and Mark Dincecco). doi:10.1086/700273
Federalism and the Welfare State in Latin America, Regional and Federal Studies (2021) 31(1): 163-184. doi:10.1080/13597566.2020.1749841
Inequality in Risk-Taking: Evidence From Location Tracking in Mexican Cities During COVID 19, Frontiers in Political Science (2021) (w/ Yuzhu Zeng, Andrew Marx, Mia Poynor, Morgan Lu). doi:10.3389/fpos.2021.631826
Disparate Geography and the Origins of Tax Capacity, Review of International Organizations (2018) 16(1): 213-237 (w/ Pablo Beramendi). doi:10.1007/s11558-018-9319-2
When Militant Organizations Lose Militarily but Win Politically, Cooperation and Conflict (2020) 55(3): 365-387 (w/ Benjamin Acosta). doi:10.1177/0010836720904400
Barriers to Egalitarianism: Distributive Tensions in Latin American Federations. Latin American Research Review, (2017) 52(4): 529-551 (with Pablo Beramendi and Alberto Diaz-Cayeros). doi:10.25222/larr.31
What’s Left to Tax? Partisan Reallocation of Trade Taxation in Less Developed Countries, Political Research Quarterly (2017) 70(3): 495-508 (w/ Eunyoung Ha). doi:10.1177/1065912917702497
Taxing with Dictators and Democrats: Regime Effects, Transfers, and Revenue in Argentina’s Provinces. Journal of Politics in Latin America (2014) 6(1): 3-44. doi:10.1177/1866802x1400600101
Liberal and Illiberal Democracy in Latin America. Latin American Politics and Society (2008) 50(1): 31-57 (w/ Peter Smith). doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2008.00003.x
Political Methodology
The Modifiable Areal Unit Problem in Political Science. Political Analysis (2025) 33(4): 412-424 (w/ Dong Wook Lee, Hillel Soifer). Dataverse doi:10.1017/pan.2025.2
Measuring the Rural Continuum in Political Science, Political Analysis (2021) 29(3): 267-286 (w/ Zoe Nemerever). Dataverse doi:10.1017/pan.2020.47
Measuring Geographic Distribution for Political Research, Political Analysis (2019) 27, no. 3: 263-280 (w/Dong Wook Lee). doi:10.1017/pan.2019.14
Analysis of Panamanian DMSP/OLS Nightlights Corroborates Suspicions of Inaccurate Fiscal Data, Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment (2017) (November, v8): 99-104 (w/ Andrew Marx). doi:10.1016/j.rsase.2017.08.005
Income Taxation and the Validity of State Capacity Indicators. Journal of Public Policy (2013). 34(2): 183-206 (w/ Nicholas Weller). doi:10.1017/s0143814x1300024x
Native American Voting Rights
Criminal Justice Contact and Native American Voting Behavior. Politics, Groups, and Identities (forthcoming) (w/ Jean Schroedel, Edward Headington).
Distance to Government: County Seats and Native American Voting Access. Studies in American Political Development (forthcoming) (w/ Jean Schroedel).
Indian Boarding Schools for the Gain of White Settlers: A Case Study of Rapid City Indian School. American Indian Culture and Research Journal (2026) 49(2) (w/ Jean Schroedel, Edward Headington). doi:10.17953/a3.53960
Measuring Voter Equity at the Local Level. Election Law Journal (2026) 25(2): 172-186 (w/ Jean Schroedel, Joseph Dietrich, Tessa Provins). doi:10.1177/15331296251368790
Federal Incarceration and Native American Felon Disenfranchisement in the US West. Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy (2024) 5(2): 259-283 (w/ Jean Schroedel, Joseph Dietrich). doi:10.1561/113.00000101
Revisiting the Origins of Felony Disenfranchisement in the United States. Studies in American Political Development (2024) 38(1): 103-116 (w/ Jean Schroedel, Joseph Dietrich, Blake Garcia). doi:10.1017/s0898588x24000038
Achieving Electoral Equity After Brnovich: A Case Study of Native Activism in Nevada. Social Science Quarterly (2024) 105(3): 567-581 (w/ Jean Schroedel, Joseph Dietrich, David Lindgren). doi:10.1111/ssqu.13375
Structural Racism, the USPS and Voting by Mail On- and Off-Reservation in Arizona. Studies in American Political Development (2023) 37(2): 111-126 (w/ Jean Schroedel, Joseph Dietrich). doi:10.1017/s0898588x2200027x
Leadership Positions
Associate Dean, School of Social Science Policy and Evaluation (2019-2022)
Co-Director, Inequality and Policy Research Center (2018-Present)
Council Member, American Political Science Association (2024-Present)
Chair, Division of Politics and Economics (2021, 2025)
Chair, Department of International Studies (2019-2020)
Diversity Committee Chair, Political Methodology Society (2021-Present)
Chair, Faculty Research Committee, CGU (2020-Present)
Chair, APSA Political Economy Best Book Award (2022-Present)
Student Placement
Academic
Dissertation Chair
Shawnika Johnson
Assistant Professor, Pitzer College
Assistant Professor, Pitzer College
Zeyad Elkelani
Assistant Professor, Cairo University
Giacomo DiPasquale
Assistant Professor, Wagner College
Assistant Professor, Point Loma Nazarene
Assistant Professor, Laramie Co Community College
Assistant Professor, Cal Baptist Univ
Yuzhu Zeng
La Sierra University
Hajer Basodan
King AbdulAziz University
Lama Shaiekh
King AbdulAziz University
Abdurraof Elakder
University of Tripoli
Sally Albar
King AbdulAziz University
Rena Salayeva
Coordinator, Rose Institute, Claremont McKenna
Soha Hammam
Fellow, Harvard University
Post Doc, Inequality and Policy Research Center
Mark Smith
Loyola Marymount
Biola University
Simon Tang
CSU Fullerton
Gary Hawk
Copper Mountain College
Lauren Shaffer
CSU Northridge
Gia Honnen
Pepperdine
Mona Shadia
Chapman
Government
Dissertation Chair
Glenn-Iain Steinback
US Navy
Jake Campbell
Chief Data Officer, Santa Barbara Co
Jennifer Cervantez
City Manager, Rancho Santa Margarita
Christopher Freeland
City Manager, Indian Wells
Roger Chin
State of Washington
Noemi Alexander
Riverside Unified School Board
Brian Jewett
Laguna Beach Water District
Zaid Alkdidi
Government of Saudi Arabia
Abdulaziz Albinali
Government of Bahrain
Amad Abukkazam
Government of Libya
Inseon Roh
Government of South Korea
Zeyad Elkelani
Chief Data Scientist, Ministry of the Economy of Egypt
Ibrahim Alsuhaibani
Government of Saudi Arabia
Committee Member
Ichsan Zulkarnaean
Government of Indonesia
Morgan Stockman
CDC
Miriam Sierra Aguilar
City of Seattle
Rainita Narender
Riverside County Prosecutors Office
Paul Pulido
LA Govt
Francis Assenga
Ministry of the Economy of Tanzania
Private and Non-Profit
Dissertation Chair
Carlos Evecharria-Estrada
National Opinion Research Center
Byron Ramirez
BPM
Lara Steele
Biogen
Lisa Jene
U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council
Shawn Matiossian
Disney
Adriana Mendoza
AARP
Committee Member
Kristoffer Wikstrom
Neilson
Maryah Garner
Coleridge Initiative
Yunie Lee
Coleridge Initiative
Jingjin An
Acumen
Sara Kazemian
Acumen
Morgan Stockman
Economist, Blisspoint Media
Michael Merino
US Green Building Council
Maria Morales
MIM Consulting
Eveline Gnabasik
Norvell Thomas
Ben Feingold
Spencer Mueller
Committee Member
Assistant Professor, Adelphi University
Joseph Dietrich
Towson University
Associate Professor, Loyola Marymount
Associate Professor, Vanguard University
Assistant Professor, UAE University
Associate Professor, CSU Northridge
Carlin Cristanti
UNC Charlotte
Assistant Professor, Thammasat University
Benjamin Acosta
Assistant Professor, Louisiana State Univ
Se Kwen Kim
College of Wooster
UCLA Law School
Chungeon Koo
Post Doc, Inequality Center South Korea
Joseph Lake
CSU San Bernardino
Benjamin Smith
Sacramento State
Jessica McGuire
Ning Li