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Ernestine Friedl Professor of Political Science at Duke University
If you listen to National Public Radio (NPR) or read the New York Times, then the name David W. Rohde ’67, PhD, may be familiar to you.
“David Rohde is one of a handful of the best known scholars on the U.S. Congress and elections – period,” says Michael V. Haselswerdt, PhD, professor of political science at Canisius College.
Rohde is the Ernestine Friedl Professor of Political Science at Duke University. His expertise encompasses everything from Supreme Court decision making to the internal politics of Congress, political party influence and yes, contemporary American elections. More important, Rohde’s research has changed the way political science scholars, elected officials and even their constituents look at politics.
He was one of the first to theorize and later argue that Supreme Court justices are primarily motivated by their policy views. Rohde later challenged conventional wisdom among his peers, who long contended that members of Congress cared only about their own reelection – not policy - and that they preferred a committee system, rather than political parties, to help them meet the needs of their districts. Rohde argued that congressional reforms enacted in the 1970s weakened the committee system to provide for a larger role for the political parties, and proved members were as concerned with policy as they were their own reelections. “Otherwise why would they change a system from which they personally benefited,” poses Haselswerdt.
As a professor, Rohde mentors his students in much the same way he says he was mentored at Canisius. “History Professor (Walter G.) Sharrow, PhD, spent a great deal of time with me outside of class,” says Rohde. “He helped me realize my potential and determine precisely what I wanted to do.” Mentorship is also a key element in the graduate academic programs Rohde created, first at Michigan State and later at Duke. Political Institutions and Public Choice (PIPC) provides extensive research-training to PhD students in a collaborative setting.
Since he established PIPC in 1994, Rohde has co-authored nearly a dozen books and published countless research articles with students. He notes that all of the graduates of the PIPC program at Michigan State went on to become professors in PhD-granting departments. Many had already produced enough substantial research to qualify for a tenure track.
“I am convinced that the way to teach people how to do research is to do research with them,” says Rohde. “Our graduate students start out as observers and then become research assistants and ultimately collaborators. This is the best way I can contribute to the regeneration of researchers in the field of political science.”