Steven Schaaf

Ph.D. in Political Science, George Washington University

Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Mississippi

sdschaaf@olemiss.edu

(316) 207-7076

University of Mississippi
Deupree Hall, Room 208
University, MS, 38677

Steven Schaaf

Steven D. Schaaf is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Mississippi whose research focuses on political accountability, comparative judicial politics, Middle East politics, authoritarianism, and the rule of law. He earned a B.A. in International Relations and Law, Politics & Society from Drake University in 2013, an M.A. in Political Science from George Washington University in 2017, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University in 2021. His research combines survey experiments in the Middle East, statistical models of judicial decision-making, and interviews with Arab citizens and legal and political elites. His doctoral dissertation, Litigating the Authoritarian State: Legal Mobilization and Judicial Politics in the Middle East, examines when and how people living under authoritarian rule can use litigation to protect their rights from state abuse and hold state actors accountable to legal norms. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, including a Fulbright fellowship, a Boren fellowship, a doctoral fellowship from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, a research grant from the Institute for Middle East Studies, a Travel Research Engagement Grant from the Project on Middle East Political Science, a Foreign Language Area Studies fellowship, and a Critical Language Enhancement Award.