Eric S. Heberlig, Ph.D.

Curriculum Vitae

Department of Political Science

University of North Carolina Charlotte

9201 University City Blvd

Charlotte, NC 28223

(704) 687-4531

Professional Experience

 

2000-

Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina Charlotte

1999-2000

Visiting Assistant Professor, Gustavus Adolphus College

1998-99

Congressional Fellow, American Political Science Association Rep. Thomas C. Sawyer. 

Policy responsibilities: education, labor, social      welfare, population, environment, agriculture, public employees.

Unique experiences:  Bipartisan Civility Retreat; impeachment; Kosovo conflict

1997-8

Lecturer, Ohio State University

Spring, 1998

Visiting Assistant Professor, Wittenberg University

Autumn, 1997

Visiting Assistant Professor, Ohio Wesleyan University

1995-7

Graduate Instructor, Ohio State University

Education

Ph.D., 1997, Political Science,  Ohio State University.

M.A., 1995, Political Science, Ohio State University.

B.A., 1992, magna cum laude, Government, Franklin & Marshall College.

 

Dissertation:  Sprouting at the Grassroots:  Organized Labor's Political Mobilization and Member’s Political Activism. 

Dissertation Committee:  Gregory A. Caldeira (Chair), Randall B. Ripley, Herbert B. Asher.

 

Research Interests

 

Legislative politics:  congressional attempts to influence the courts            the relationship between congressional parties, fundraising, and committee assignments   organizational change

 

Interest Groups:  membership mobilization           grassroots lobbying the impact of member attitudes towards the organization on group-oriented behavior group strategy and venue choice  attainment of lobbying access            interactions and relations with political parties

 

Publications               

 

Eric S. Heberlig, Herbert Asher, Randall B. Ripley, and Karen C. Snyder.  2001. Labor Unions In American

Elections.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman and Littlefield. 

Abstract.    After years of being seen as a “has been” in U.S. electoral politics, organized labor was again a central player in the 1996 elections.  “Labor ‘96” was a high profile campaign to redefine the electoral agenda and reelect a Democratic Congress and has become labor's model political strategy.  We examine the impact of changing membership and environmental constraints on labor’s strategic shift.  While most research on interest groups in elections is devoted to their role as financiers, we focus on unions’ attempts to mobilize their members.  Our research is based on several rounds of interviews with union officers and political activists in Ohio and Washington, D.C., as well as telephone surveys of rank-and-file union members in Ohio following the 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996 elections.  Thus, we present an in-depth examination of members’ issue stances, political participation, voting behavior, and views of union political action.  We seek to understand how interest group members and leaders interact in political mobilization and how the relationship between them affects the group’s political strategies.

 

Herbert F. Weisberg, Eric S. Heberlig, and Lisa Campoli.  1999. 

Classics in Congressional

Politics.  New York:  Longman

Abstract.  Classics  reprints the best of political science research in major areas of congressional studies (e.g., organizational development, representation, committees, voting decisions, etc.).  Original, chapter-length section introductions place the reprints within the development of the field.  These chapters include discussions of the literature preceding the reprints, the articles' contributions to our understanding of Congress and effect on the direction of the study of Congress, and the evolution of the literature since their publication.  Classics also contains original “contemporary issues” sections which show how political research questions and findings can be applied to recurrent suggestions for reform.  Finally, we include “contemporary perspectives” which reprint recent studies that challenge the findings of the classics and demonstrate the lasting importance of the classic research questions.

 

Eric S. Heberlig.  2000.  “Coordinating Issues and Elections:  Organized Labor in the Republican Era.”

American Review of Politics 20:163-80.

 

Eric S. Heberlig and Rorie L. Spill.  2000.  "Congress at Court:  Members of Congress as Amicus             Curiae." 

Southeastern Political Review 28(2):1-24.

 

"Organized Labor’s Electoral Mobilization."  1997. Vox Pop 15:5-7.

Manuscripts Under Review

 

"Landing on Deaf Ears:  The Success of Congressional Amicus Curiae."  (with Rorie Spill)

 

“The Senate’s Electoral Connection:  Representation and Efficiency in the post-17th Amendment Senate.”  (with Scott Yenor)

 

Teaching Experience

 

Introduction to American Politics

Legislative Politics

American Presidency

Social Movements and Interest Groups

Voting and Elections

U.S. Public Policy

Education and Social Welfare Policy

Public Opinion

 

Conference Papers and Reports

 

“Campaign Fundraising and Political Ambition in Congress:  The Influence of Campaign Contributions by Members of Congress.” Paper presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

 

“Co-signing Congressional Amici Curiae Briefs:  Position Taking or Policy Signaling?” (with Rorie Spill).  Paper presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

Roundtable Participant.  What Political Scientists Can Learn from Capitol Hill Experience.  2000 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"Finding the Weak Link:  The Choice of Institutional Venue by Interest Groups."  (with Steven      Greene).  Paper presented at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association.

 

"Congress at Court:  Members of Congress as Amicus Curiae."  (with Rorie Spill).  Paper presented at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"Changing Minds or Just Changing Parties?  Assessing the Voting Behavior of Congressional        Party Switchers."  (with Peter Radcliffe).  Paper presented at the 1998 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"The Strategy and Efficacy of Electoral Targeting."  Paper presented at the 1998 Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"The Dynamics of Access:  The Use of Inside and Outside Lobbying Strategies by Organized Labor."  Paper presented at the 1997 Annual Conference of the Southern Political Science Association.

 

"Cuing the Courts:  Members of Congress as Friends of the Court."  (with Rorie Spill).  Paper       presented at the 1997 Annual Conference of the American Political Science Association.

 

"Labor '96 and the Political Behavior of Ohio Union Members:  The 1996 Ohio Elections." 1997.    (with Herbert Asher, Randall B. Ripley, and Karen C. Snyder). Report to the Center for Labor Research, Ohio State University.

 

"Variation in Senate Leadership Style."  (with Lisa Campoli).  Paper presented at the 1997 Annual                        Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"Answering the Call to Action:  Interest Group Member Participation in Grassroots Mobilizations." Paper presented at the 1997 Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association. 

 

"Fertilizing the Grassroots:  The Mobilization of Grassroots Activism by Labor Unions."  Paper      presented at the 1996 Annual Conference of the Southern Political Science Association.

 

"Following the Union Endorsement:  Group Identification and the Voting Behavior of Labor Union Members." (with Herbert Asher, Randall B. Ripley, and Karen C. Snyder). Presented at the 1996 Annual Conference of the Midwest Political Science Association.

 

"The Political Attitudes and Behavior of Union Members:  The 1994 Ohio Elections." 1995.(with Herbert Asher, Randall B. Ripley, and Karen C. Snyder). Report to the Center for           Labor Research, Ohio State University.

 

"The Political Attitudes and Behavior of Union Members:  The 1992 Ohio Elections." 1994.           (with Herbert Asher, Randall B. Ripley, and Karen C. Snyder). Report to the Center for Labor Research, Ohio State University.

 

Reviewer:  American Journal of Political Science, St. Martin's Press, State University of New York Press, Worth Publishers

 

Awards 

 

William Green Memorial Grant, 1996-7

Gov. David L. Lawrence Fellowship, James A. Finnegan Foundation, 1992

Phi Beta Kappa, Franklin & Marshall College, 1992

Arthur King Kunkel Prize, Department of Government, Franklin & Marshall College, 1992

 

References

 

Gregory A. Caldeira                                                      Department of Political Science 

Randall B. Ripley                                                          Ohio State University

Herbert B. Asher                                                          2140 Derby Hall           

Herbert F. Weisberg                                                      154 N. Oval Mall

                                                                                    Columbus, OH 43210

                                                                                    (614) 292-2880

 

Christopher Gilbert, Chair                                               800 West College Ave.

Department of Political Science                                      St. Peter, MN 56082

Gustavus Adolphus College                                            (507) 933-7317

 

D. Craig Ramsay, Chair                                                 Delaware, OH 43015

Department of Politics and Government                          (614) 368-3780

Ohio Wesleyan University