Gary Mucciaroni
Professor and Chair
440 Gladfelter Hall
Phone: 215-204-6195
E-mail: gmucciar@temple.edu
Biography: Professor Mucciaroni has been a member of the faculty of the Political Science Department at Temple since he arrived in 1993. He has been Department Chair since 2005.
The focus of his research and publication is the politics of public policymaking in the United States— examining the forces and actors that impinge upon the policy choices of government.
His first book, The Political Failure of Employment Policy, 1945-1982, (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1990), examined the reasons why the federal government’s efforts to reduce poverty and unemployment in the second half of the 20th Century ended in political failure. His second, Reversals of Fortune: Private Interests and Public Policy (Brookings Institution, 1995), addressed the question of why business interests win or lose policy battles in Washington. The third (with Paul J. Quirk), Deliberative Choices: Debating Public Policy In Congress (University of Chicago Press, 2006), examines how well Members of Congress deliberate over policy issues and the conditions under which the quality of their deliberation is better and worse. His fourth book, Same Sex, Different Politics: Issues and Institutions in the Struggle for Gay and Lesbian Rights, (University of Chicago Press 2008), investigates why gays and lesbians have been successful in reaching some of their policy goals more than others.
Professor Mucciaroni teaches the entire range of students in our department-- from freshmen enrolled in introductory courses to graduate students conducting PhD dissertation research. He is a tenured Professor and serves as the Department Chair.
His teaching and research interests focus on politics and public policy-making. In addition to core undergraduate and graduate courses in American politics, he teaches courses on theories of policymaking, deliberation, the politics of poverty, and the politics of gay and lesbian rights.
The Politics of Poverty is an “experiential learning” course in which students combine classroom study with internships served in organization that advocate on behalf of the disadvantaged or provide services for them. Along with other experiential learning courses offered in our department, it won the 2003 Rowman and Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science.
Recent Publications:
Book Abstract: Deliberative Choices: Debating Public Policy In Congress (University of Chicago Press, 2006) See coverage of Deliberative Choices in The Washington Post
Article Abstract: "Immutability, Science and Debate over Gay Rights"
Book Abstract: Same Sex, Different Politics: Success and Failure in Struggles over Gay Rights (University of Chicago Press, 2008) WHYY Radio Times podcast (December 2, 2008)