Dr. Christopher DeVine

Christopher Devine is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Dayton. Devine earned his PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University in 2011. His dissertation, on ideological social identity, earned the Henry R. Spencer Award as the best dissertation in The Ohio State University’s Political Science Department for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Devine is a leading expert on vice presidential candidates. He is the co-author, with Kyle C. Kopko, of two books on this topic, including Do Running Mates Matter? The Influence of Vice Presidential Candidates in Presidential Elections (University Press of Kansas, 2020) and The VP Advantage: How Running Mates Influence Home State Voting in Presidential Elections (Manchester University Press, 2016). Their research has been featured in numerous media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, NPR, CNN, Fox News, Vox, and FiveThirtyEight. Also, Devine and Kopko have written about their research on vice presidential candidates for the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, FiveThirtyEight, Politico Magazine and Time.

Devine has published journal articles and book chapters on several other topics including presidential campaign visits, partisanship, ideology, the Libertarian Party, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom—the latter of which has been covered by media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, CNN, and NPR. He is also the co-author—with Jacqueline R. Kanovitz and Jefferson L. Ingram—of Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice, 15th Edition.

At the University of Dayton, Devine teaches courses on many of these topics, including: The American Political System (POL201); Political Parties, Campaigns, and Elections (POL310); Public Opinion and Political Behavior (POL311); and American Presidency (POL313). Also, he teaches students how to conduct their own research projects in POL207: Political Science Research Methods.

Degrees

• Ph.D., Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2011
• M.A., Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2008
• B.A., Government & English, Connecticut College, 2006

Faculty Perspective

“I want my students to be as fascinated by, and passionate about, politics as I am. Even more importantly, I want students to see the bigger picture—that what they learn inside of the classroom and apply outside of it should point toward the end-goal of vocation. Indeed, I hope they will find a purpose in their work that extends far beyond earning high grades and making money, to making a difference in the world that reflects each student’s unique, God-given talents and interests. I am blessed to teach at UD, because ours is a community that values and cultivates a spirit of vocation—among faculty and students, alike.”

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