Michael Touchton
Assoc. Professor
Global Health Associate Faculty Lead - UMIA
About Michael Touchton
Dr. Touchton studies the political economy of development and underdevelopment in a comparative setting. His areas of interest include how countries attract investment and promote economic growth, how they reduce poverty and promote human development, and how they redevelop following the departure of major industries. Much of his research occurs in Latin America, but Dr. Touchton has spent considerable time addressing these questions in many other parts of the developing world and the United States. Dr. Touchton's research informs his work in the classroom, and his courses cover a wide variety of topics in comparative politics, and international relations from introductory to graduate levels.Education
| 2000 | B.A. Political Science, Spanish and International Studies, Virginia Tech |
| 2004 | Political Science, University of Colorado |
| 2010 | Ph.D. Political Science, University of Colorado |
The relationship between governance, human, and economic development at the local, national, and international levels; The political and social determinants of health in a comparative context
Professional Experience
| 2016 - | Assistant Professor, University of Miami |
| 2011 - 2016 | Assistant Professor, Boise State University |
| 2010 - 2011 | Visiting Assistant Professor, Wesleyan University |
Honors & Acknowledgements
2018 University of Miami Provost’s Research Award for evaluating local governance and Zika transmission in Brazil
2017 Best Paper Award of the Subnational Politics Section of the Latin American Studies Association
$225,000 Research Award to perform impact evaluation on participatory budgeting and well-being through the World Bank’s Kenya Participatory Budgeting Initiative
Fulbright Core Research Fellowship for a five-month project to evaluate participatory institutions, social programs, and well-being in Brazil
Co-PI on $105,000 Making All Voices Count Grant for Global Participatory Budgeting Research and Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya
Co-PI on $60,000 Hewlett Foundation Grant for Global Participatory Budgeting Research
Miami Institute for Advanced Study of the Americas Grant to Collect, Analyze, and Disseminate Data on Zika in Brazil
$40,000 Grant to perform a municipal-level census of Brazil’s participatory budgeting programs with a research team at the University of Campinas, Brazil
2012 Best Paper Award of the Political Institutions Section (LAPIS) of the Latin American Studies Association
Boise State Early Career Teaching Scholars Fellowship, 2012-2013
Boise State College of Social Science and Public Affairs Research Fellowship, 2011-2015
Dissertation Nominated for the Gabriel Almond and Mancur Olson Dissertation Awards for the best dissertation in Comparative Politics and Political Economy
CARTSS, University of Colorado. (Center for Advancement of Research and Teaching in the Social Sciences) Collaborative Research Grant to support dissertation fieldwork
Beverly Sears Graduate Research Grant to support dissertation fieldwork
University of Colorado, Dept. of Political Science Summer Fellowship and Institute for Behavioral Science Grant to attend ICPSR
Conferences & Events
| July 10-15, 2017 | Impact Evaluation and Results Surrounding Participatory Budgeting | Workshop for Making All Voices Count. Nairobi, Kenya |
| May 6-8, 2017. | Impact Evaluation for Participatory Budgeting | Invited talk and workshop for Kenyan Participatory Budgeting Initiative. Nairobi, Kenya |
More Conferences | |
Memberships
University
4 MA Students
50 BA Students
McNair Foundation Advisor: I have advised numerous students at Boise State University, The
University of Colorado and Wesleyan University in the McNair Foundation’s Minority Scholars
Programs surrounding their preparation for graduate study. Most recently, I served as co-Chair of
Josue Gomez’s and Dexter Lansing’s McNair Thesis Committee at Boise State University.
Student Org Advisor, Pi Sigma Alpha (Political Science Honor Society). (August 20, 2012 - 2016).
Student Org Advisor, Global Affairs Club. (August 20, 2011 - May 20, 2013).
Faculty Mentor: Fulbright Scholarship Applicants. I mentor potential Fulbright, Boren,
and Truman Fellowship Applicants, review their materials and participate in mock interviews
throughout the year.
College: Coordinator: Online Education in Quantitative Analysis. I have co-chaired a large initiative to develop course material for teaching our two-course methods sequence online. This entails extensive training in online education, followed by one year of converting my existing course material for the introductory and advanced classes into an online format. This material may now be used by any
instructor in the Political Science Department and the university to teach statistics courses online.
Profession/Discipline
Committee Member, APSA Comparative Democratization Section. (August 20, 2011 - Present).
Committee Member, LASA Decentralization Section. (August 28, 2011 - Present).
Committee Member, LASA Brazil Section. (November 15, 2013 - Present).
Editorial and Review Activities
Editorial Board: Latin American Politics and Society (2016- Present)
Editorial Board: The Social Science Journal
Journal Reviewer, American Journal of Political Science, Journal, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 4. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, American Political Science Review, Journal, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 2. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, British Journal of Political Science, Journal, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 3. (August 2011 - Present).
Book Reviewer for Publisher, Cambridge University Press, Book, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 3. (August 2011 - Present).
Book Reviewer for Publisher, Cambridge University Press, Textbook, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 5. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, Comparative Political Studies, Journal, Academic, Number of Items
Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 1. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, Journal of Politics, Journal, Academic, Number of Items
Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 3. (August 2011 - Present).
Book Reviewer for Publisher, Oxford University Press, Book, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 4. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, Political Research Quarterly, Journal, Academic, Number of Items
Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 4. (August 2011 - Present).
Book Reviewer for Publisher, Princeton University Press, Book, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 3. (August 2011 - Present).
Book Reviewer for Publisher, Stanford University Press, Book, Academic,
Number of Items Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 2. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, Urban Affairs Review, Journal, Academic, Number of Items
Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 1. (August 2011 - Present).
Journal Reviewer, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Journal, Academic, Number of Items
Edited/Reviewed for this Organization: 1. (August 2011 - Present).
Community
research to their causes. These include the Global Partnership on Social Accountability and
the Global Initiative for Fiscal Transparency. This work is sometimes remunerated, but is
often pro-bono. I also work regularly with non-profits and journalists
throughout Latin America and SE Asia to promote policy reforms in my research area.
I also provide regular advice and expertise to journalists in communities with closed military bases
to describe and improve local redevelopment processes and outcomes.
Locally, I speak to area high school students about attending Boise State and
majoring in Political Science on a semi-regular basis. I also assist local journalists with some of
their own research. For example, I performed extensive data analysis for a local journalist,
Nathaniel Hoffman, for his book Amor and Exile, which describes the challenges
families with some documented and some undocumented members
face in the West.
The relationship between governance, human, and economic development at the local, national, and international levels; The political and social determinants of health in a comparative context
Publications
Michael Touchton, Natasha Sugiyama and Brian Wampler "Democracy at Work: Moving Beyond Elections to Improve Well-being in Brazil" American Political Science Review Vol. 111, Issue 1. (February 2017).
"The Benefits of Balance: Institutional Performance and the Rule of law in Latin America" Latin American Research Review Vol. 52, Issue 2 (March 2016).
MORE PUBLICATIONS
