Jonathan Collins
Mary Tefft and John Hazen White, Sr. Assistant Professor of Political Science, Public Policy, and Education
Jonathan E. Collins is an assistant professor of Education, political science (by courtesy), and International and Public Affairs. He holds affiliations with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. His research focuses on race and ethnic politics, urban politics, state and local politics, and questions of democracy. His scholarship has been published in the American Political Science Review, Political Behavior, the Peabody Journal of Education, the Urban Affairs Review, and the Journal of Urban Affairs. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, the American Political Science Association's Susan Clarke Young Scholar Award, and the Brown University Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. He holds a Ph.D. in political science and an M.A. in African American Studies from the University of California -Los Angeles (UCLA) as well as a B.A. in English from Morehouse College.
Professor Collins's research focuses on the democratic behavior of American political institutions as well as the political behavior of People of Color in the U.S., particularly African Americans. His work on democratic behavior centers on participatory and deliberative democracy. He is particularly interested in the capacity for the democratic innovations to improve the quality of schools in low-income minoritized communities. For his research on POC political behavior, he does work to help us better understand the factors that motivate POCs to engage in a range of political activities such as: vote in national and local elections, attend a school board meeting, and run for public office. His research as a whole aims to help us understand what is needed to push the U.S. closer to a functioning multi-racial society.
Collins, Jonathan. (2021). “Does the Meeting Style Matter? The Effects of Exposure to Participatory and Deliberative School Board Meetings.” American Political Science Review. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055421000320.
Collins, Jonathan. (2021). “Should School Boards Be in Charge? The Effects of Exposure to Participatory and Deliberative School Board Meetings.” Peabody Journal of Education. (forthcoming).
Collins, Jonathan, Eddie Lucero, and Jessica Trounstine (2020). “Will Concurrent Elections Shape the Electorate?” California Journal of Politics and Policy. https://doi.org/10.5070/P2cjpp1150416
Scott Jamil and Jonathan Collins. (2020). "Riled up about running for office: examining the impact of emotions on political ambition." Politics, Groups, and Identities. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/21565503.2020.1757806
Collins, Jonathan. (2019)."Do Teachers Want Democracy? Deliberative Culture and Teachers’ Evaluations of Schools." Urban Affairs Review. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1078087419869550
Collins, Jonathan and Ray Block Jr. (2018). “Fired Up or Ready to Go? The Impact of Declining Enthusiasm on African American Political Participation in the Post-Obama Era.” Political Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-018-9488-y.
Collins, Jonathan. (2018)."Urban representation through deliberation: A theory and test of deliberative democracy at the local level." Journal of Urban Affairs : 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2018.1427507
September 9, 2022 Education Week
Professor Jonathan Collins offered commentary for Education Week on the Texas State Board of Education's decision to delay the revision process of the state's K-12 social studies standards until 2025.
August 24, 2022
Numerous Watson scholars participate in the American Political Science Association annual conference.
July 18, 2022 NBC News
Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Education Jonathan Collins offers commentary on the politicization of school boards, which could lead to inaction on new hires and student achievement goals for NBC News.
July 12, 2022 Chalkbeat Tennessee
“The pandemic, and school reopenings in particular, punched the chest of national politics, and education has moved quickly from being local to national to partisan,” Jonathan E. Collins comments for Chalkbeat Tennessee.
May 19, 2022 Education Week
Jonathan Collins explains in Education Week, "What the hateful ideology behind the Buffalo shooting means for educators"
October 4, 2021 Washington Post
Jonathan E. Collins penned this column on his research that found Americans are far more likely to comply with orders that come from the president than those that come from governors or mayors.
August 6, 2021
Jonathan Collins recently authored, "Does the Meeting Style Matter? The Effects of Exposure to Participatory and Deliberative School Board Meetings" a study focused on the effects of civic engagement in public meetings.
8:45 p.m. – 10:45 p.m. Register here to attend the webinar. This event is for Brown University Community Members only.
Student Events, Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, Virtual Events