Renee J. Johnson

In This Section:

Renée J. Johnson

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Stony Brook University, 1997

Fields: public policy, political economy, state politics, bureaucracy

First and foremost, I consider myself a scholar of public policy. As such, I am interested in learning about and adding to the body of knowledge regarding the courses of action government chooses to take or not to take regarding matters of public concern. However, the study of public policy incorporates a very broad and cross-disciplinary field. Because of my undergraduate and graduate training in government, economics, and political economy, I am very interested in how politics and markets interact in the public sector. In order to understand public policy, I believe it is necessary to learn something about the substance of public policy, the internal environment of public policy, and the external influences on public policy. As such, my research has focused on three particular areas of the study of public policy: 1) the formation of public policy in the fifty states, specifically welfare policy, 2) the study of bureaucracy, and 3) public opinion (environmental attitudes in particular). I have published research in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Policy Studies Journal, and State and Local Government Review as well as several book chapters and encyclopedia entries.

I am an enthusiastic teacher of political science and my teaching interests correspond to my research interests. I have taught courses in bureaucracy, policy analysis, policy process, public administration, quantitative methodology, regulation, and state government.

Recent Publications:

Johnson, Renée J. and David M. Hedge. 2007. Florida's Welfare Policy. To be included in a new book by the University of Florida Press on government and politics in Florida. Expected publication date of fall 2007.

Johnson, Renée J. and Mike Scicchitano. 2007. " At Home or At A Distance: Explaining Individual Willingness to Take Action in Environmental Policymaking." Journal of Environmental Planning and Management.

Johnson, Renée J. 2005. "Environment." In Best, Samuel J. and Benjamin Radcliff, Eds. Polling America: An Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, Volume 1, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Hedge, David and Renée J. Johnson. 2005. "State Data for the United States" in Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly. Ed. Encylopedia of Social Measurement, Volume 3, Boston, MA: Elsevier Academic Press Inc.

Johnson, Renée J. 2005. "Environment." In Best, Samuel J. and Benjamin Radcliff, Eds. Polling America: An Encyclopedia of Public Opinion, Volume 1, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Hedge, David and Renée J. Johnson. 2005. "State Data for the United States." In Kempf-Leonard, Kimberly. Ed. Encylopedia of Social Measurement, Volume 3, Boston, MA: Elsevier Academic Press Inc. (this article was subject to positive review by three anonymous reviewers prior to being accepted for publication)

Johnson, Renée J., David M. Hedge, and Marian Currinder. 2004. "Bootstraps and Benevolence: A Comparative Test of States' Capacity to Effect Change in Welfare Outcomes." State and Local Government Review, 36(1): 118-129.

Bolus, John and Renée J. Johnson. 2003. “Building from the Center Out: Decentralizing Environmental Policymaking in Costa Rica.” In Bressers, Hans Th. A. and Walter A. Rosenbaum, Eds. Achieving Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Governance Across Social Scales. Westport, CT: Praeger Press.

Hedge, David, and Renée J. Johnson. 2002. “The Plot That Failed:The Republican Revolution and Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Volume 12(3),333-352.

e-mail: rjohns14@kent.edu