Department of Government and Justice Studies

Dr. Adam J Newmark joined the Department of Government and Justice Studies in 2004 and currently co-directs the MA Program in Political Science. He earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Florida, M.A. degrees from the University of South Florida and the University of Birmingham, England, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Newmark has served as a Bruce Centre for American Studies Fellow at Keele University, Honors Director for Political Science and Criminal Justice in the Department of Government and Justice Studies, and Vice President of the North Carolina Political Science Association. His areas of teaching and research focus on American Politics, State Government, Interest Groups and Lobbying, Public Policy, and Political Scandals. Courses he teaches include American National Government and Politics, State and Local Government, American Political Parties and Interest Groups, and Voting, Campaigns, and Elections. His recent publications have focused on political scandals ("When Sex Doesn't Sell: Political Scandals, Culture, and Media Coverage in the States" Public Integrity with Shannon Vaughan), environmental policy ("Building a Reservoir to Nowhere: The Role of Agencies in Advocacy Coalitions" Policy Studies Journal with Brian A. Ellison), and state spending ("The Strange Disappearance of State Investment in Human and Physical Capital in U.S. States" Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory with Christopher Witko).

Areas of Expertise & Interest:

• American politics 
• State and local government 
• Interest groups and lobbying 
• Public policy

Education:

• PhD University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (May 2003) Major: American Government Minors: Public Policy; Methodology
• MA University of Birmingham (December 1999), Birmingham, England Research Methods for Political Science (With Distinction)
• MA University of South Florida (May 1998), Tampa, Florida Major: American National and State Government Minor: Public Policy / Public Administration Concentration
• BA University of Florida (May 1995), Gainesville, Florida Major: Political Science (With Honors) Outside Concentration in Psychology

Courses Taught:

• American National Government and Politics
• Debates in American Politics
• American Political Parties and Interest Groups (graduate and undergraduate)
• Seminar in American Government (graduate)
• Voting, Campaigns, and Elections (graduate and undergraduate)
• State and Local Government
• Comparative State Politics (honors
• Washington at Work (undergraduate and graduate)
• Seminar in Political Behavior (graduate)
• Why Policy Changes
• Seminar in Public Policy (graduate)
• Scope and Methods (graduate)
• Research Methods and Statistics (graduate)
• Writing in Political Science: Power and Politics in the U.S.
• Writing in Political Science: Film and Politics
• Understanding the 2008 Election (honors)
• Legislative Politics, American Public Policy
• Problems in State and Local Government (graduate)
• Practical Research Skills (graduate)