Eveline M. Dowling

I have a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis (2023), with a focus in American politics, public opinion, and survey data analysis. I also hold a B.A. in Psychology from Carleton College. My dissertation research and academic papers focus on the attitudes of independents compared to their partisan counterparts. I have authored reports and conducted research on election reform laws, such as Ranked Choice Voting, and media studies utilizing qualitative methods.

I am currently working for DemocracyNext LLC on communication regarding election reform proposals including open primaries, ranked choice voting, and other reforms to increase turnout and representation. In addition, I am a visiting adjunct professor at Clark University's Department of Political Science teaching undergraduate students Introduction to Research Methods. 

At the Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center (RCVRC), I conducted original research on local election administration and voter turnout after the adoption of ranked-choice voting systems. I wrote two reports. The first uses the state voter files merged with industry data to measure voter turnout in the 2021 off-year elections. We provide empirical evidence using the national voter files of the near universe of the US population (Catalist) that people living in RCV jurisdictions are more likely to vote in off-year elections, all else equal than people living in cities without RCV. This paper is published in Electoral Studies. The second report is published on the RCVRC website and measures whether local government election management improved or declined after the adoption of RCV for jurisdictions nationally. The analysis uses a new index measuring the quality of county election administration (CEA) (Ritter and Tolbert, 2024) building on the state-level Election Performance Index (EPI). Implementing RCV requires voter education, new voting technology software, and new procedures. The results find the act of converting to RCV may create spillover benefits that improve election management in general.

My experience as an instructor and teaching assistant for undergraduate classes demonstrates my ability to communicate political concepts effectively and mentor students. Whether through reports, presentations, or white papers, I can help make data and academic research findings accessible and impactful to diverse audiences. A highlight of my time in graduate school was analyzing quantitative data, developing papers, presentations, and visualizations, conveying the findings to others, and working in teams.