Martha E. Kropf

Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program

Research Clusters: Equality and Opportunity Policy; Policy Process and Administration
Research Interests: Social Capital and Political Engagement; Political Institutions and Public Policy; Gender and Race; Election Policy

Dr. Kropf received her PhD (1998) in Political Science from American University and served as Director of Public Policy at UNC Charlotte from 2015 – 2018 . Her research focuses on election administration, political participation, and the policy process. She has work forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science and has published in Public Opinion Quarterly, Journal of Politics and Review of Policy Research. She has authored two books: Helping America Vote: The Limits of Election Reform (Routledge; with David C. Kimball) and Institutions and the Right to Vote in America (Palgrave). She had received grants from

Curriculum Vita

Recent Publications:

• Mohr, Z., Pope, J. V., Shepherd, M. J., Kropf, M., & Hill, A. (2020). Evaluating the Recessionary Impact on Election Administration Budgeting and Spending: Part of Special Symposium on Election Sciences. American Politics Research, 48(6), 709-713.
• Kropf, M., Pope, J. V., Shepherd, M. J., & Mohr, Z. (2020). Making every vote count: The important role of managerial capacity in achieving better election administration outcomes. Public Administration Review, 80(5), 733-742.
• Kropf, M. (2020). A Republic, If You Can Keep Its Elections Secure, Accurate, and Fair: Part of Special Symposium on Election Sciences. American Politics Research, 48(6), 667-669.
• Giersch, J., Kropf, M., & Stearns, E. (2020). Unequal returns to education: how female teachers narrow the gender gap in political knowledge. The Journal of Politics, 82(2), 781-785.
• McGowan, M. J., Pope, J. V., Kropf, M. E., & Mohr, Z. (2021). Guns or Butter… or Elections? Understanding intertemporal and distributive dimensions of policy choice through the examination of budgetary tradeoffs at the local level. Public Budgeting & Finance, 41(4), 3-19.
• Hammond, F. M., Davis, C. S., Hirsch, M. A., Snow, J. M., Kropf, M. E., Schur, L., … & Ball, A. M. (2021). Qualitative examination of voting empowerment and participation among people living with traumatic brain injury. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 102(6), 1091-1101.
• Kropf, M. (2021). Using campaign communications to analyze civility in ranked choice voting elections. Politics and Governance, 9(2), 280-292.
• Kropf, M. Causal Stories—The Political Repercussions of the Pandemic. Pandemic at the Polls, 209.
• Kropf, M. (2022). Lessons from The Politics of Ballot Design: A Review Article. Political Science Quarterly, 137(3), 589-598.
• Canales, K., Kropf, M., Leland, S., & Maestas, C. (2023). Revisiting the micro-foundations of the Tiebout theory of local expenditures: are private community amenities substitutes for local public services in residential choices?. Urban Affairs Review, 59(5), 1441-1469.
• Anthony, J., Manion, A., Kropf, M., & Kimball, D. (2023) The Information Landscape and Voters’ Understanding of RCV in Alaska.
• Mohr, Z., Kropf, M., McGowan, M. J., & Pope, J. (2024). A Republic If You Can Afford it: How Much Does it Cost to Administer Elections?. Cambridge University Press.
  Kropf, M., & Tran, D. (2024). The pandemic voting experience. Pandemic at the polls: How the politics of COVID-19 played into American elections, 19-32.