Jesse Rhodes

Jesse Rhodes

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Chapter Member: Boston SSN
Areas of Expertise:

Connect with Jesse

(413) 545-6185

About Jesse

Rhodes’ expertise lies in the politics of K-12 education policymaking in the United States. He has studied the origins and development of standards, testing, and accountability policies at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as citizens’ responses to and attitudes about these policies. He also studies how presidents relate to their political parties, and how this affects the development and implementation of public policies. He has worked with the U.S. State Department on a variety of programs to educate foreign students about American politics.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Alienated Parents - An Unexpected Downside of School Accountability Reforms

Key Findings Brief,

Accountability in Education as a Civil Rights Cause

Key Findings Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 113:
Ballot Blocked

In the News

"Here’s How Female Candidates Can Sway Fathers’ Votes — If Their First Child Is a Daughter," Elizabeth Sharrow (with Jesse Rhodes, Jill Greenlee, and Tatishe M. Nteta), Monkey Cage, Analysis, The Washington Post, November 3, 2018.
"Yes, Stephen Curry Is Right. Having a Daughter Does Change Men’s Political Outlooks — But Only if She’s Firstborn," Elizabeth Sharrow (with Jesse Rhodes, Tatishe M. Nteta, and Jill Greenlee), Monkey Cage, Analysis, The Washington Post, September 14, 2018.
Jesse Rhodes quoted by Dylan Matthews, "Studies: Democratic Politicians Represent Middle-Class Voters. GOP Politicians Don’t." Vox, April 2, 2018.
"Why Did Trump Win? More Whites - and Fewer Blacks - Actually Voted.," Jesse Rhodes (with Sean McElwee, Bernard L. Fraga, and Brian Schaffner), The Washington Post, May 8, 2017.
"How ‘Voter Fraud’ Crusades Undermine Voting Rights," Jesse Rhodes, The Conversation, February 1, 2017.
"Violence Has Long Been a Feature of American Elections," Jesse Rhodes, The Conversation, November 7, 2016.
"Is America More Divided by Race or Class?," Jesse Rhodes (with Sean McElwee and Brian Schaffner), The Washington Post, October 12, 2016.
"Explainer: Why are Schools Adopting the Common Core?," Jesse Rhodes, The Conversation, October 28, 2014.
"Heed King's Lesson: Only Congress Can Preserve Voting Rights," Jesse Rhodes (with Avi Green), Talking Points Memo, January 20, 2014.

Publications

"Just Locker Room Talk? Explicit Sexism and the Impact of the Access Hollywood Tape on Electoral Support for Donald Trump in 2016" (with Jill S. Greenlee and Tatishe M. Nteta). Political Communication 37, no. 6 (2020): 741-767 .

Discusses if citizens recoil when exposed to explicitly sexist messages? Investigate this question by exploiting the unique opportunity afforded by the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign.

"Helping to Break the Glass Ceiling? Fathers, First Daughters, and Presidential Vote Choice in 2016 " (with Jesse Rhodes, Jill Greenlee, and Tatishe Nteta). Political Behavior 42, no. 3 (2018): 655-695.

Explores the relationships among gender, fatherhood, and vote choice in the 2016 election.  Asks were men who fathered daughters (or fathered daughters as their first child) more likely to support, and vote for, Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election than were those who fathered sons (or fathered sons as their first child)?

"Just Locker Room Talk? Explicit Sexism and the Impact of the Access Hollywood Tape on Electoral Support for Donald Trump in 2016" (with Jesse Rhodes, Jill Greenlee, and Tatishe Nteta). Political Communication (2020).

Studies the impact of the release of the Access Hollywood tape during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Finds consistent evidence that the release of the tape modestly, though significantly, reduced support for Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

An Education in Politics: The Origins and Evolution of No Child Left Behind (Cornell University Press, 2012).
Explains the uneven development of federal involvement in education. While supporters of expanded federal involvement enjoyed some success in bringing new ideas to the federal policy agenda, they also encountered stiff resistance from proponents of local control. Built atop existing decentralized policies, new federal reforms raised difficult questions about which level of government bore ultimate responsibility for improving schools. My argument focuses on the role played by civil rights activists, business leaders, and education experts in promoting the reforms that would be enacted with federal policies such as No Child Left Behind.
"Progressive Policymaking in a Conservative Age? Civil Rights and the Politics of Federal Education Standards, Testing, and Accountability" Perspectives on Politics 9, no. 3 (2011): 519-544.
Examines the rise of standards, testing, accountability, and limited school choice policies in federal education policymaking, which are widely viewed as embodying the same conservative interests and ideologies that have shaped policymaking in other areas and shows that certain civil rights organizations, not conservative forces, provided much of the impetus for these reforms, which they viewed as measures for raising the achievement of disadvantaged students. Tracing the origins and consequences of these policies, my research reveals that entrepreneurial progressives can achieve significant legislative successes that they believe will accomplish progressive objectives.