Research Interests
My research interests revolve around identity, immigration, and minority politics; comparative and international political economy; economic voting; political psychology and behavior; methodology; European integration; ethnic conflict; and international law. Please contact me to learn more about any of the projects listed below.
Fitzgerald, Jennifer and K. Amber Curtis. Forthcoming. "Partisan Discord in the Family and Political Engagement: A Comparative Behavioral Analysis." Journal of Politics.
Fitzgerald, Jennifer, K. Amber Curtis, and Catherine L. Corliss. Forthcoming. "Anxious Publics: Worries about Crime and Immigration." Comparative Political Studies.
Curtis, K. Amber, and Joseph Jupille. 2010. "The European Union." In The Encyclopedia of Political Science, eds. George Thomas Kurian, James E. Alt, Simone Chambers, Geoffrey Garrett, Margaret Levi, and Paula D. McClain. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
A desire to create "we the people" is something all integration projects across time and space profess, yet we still know little about how these superordinate identities are actually formed and what causes variation in individuals' propensity to adopt them. Given an overarching, cohesive identity's purported ability to ease intergroup tension and bolster support for the political system, it is crucial that scholars isolate the factors that promote or hinder its emergence. My dissertation, "Cultivating the Collective: Identity Choice in Europe," investigates why individuals choose to identify a certain way in the presence of multiple identity alternatives. Combining institutional analysis with a social-psychological framework, Part I probes the extent to and ways in which government institutions affect citizens' identity inclinations. I find that exposure to EU institutions bolsters supranational identification with Europe by increasing EU knowledge, trust, and political interest while mitigating the negative effects of national pride and perceived cultural threat. Part II delves into subnational attachments, finding that identifying with the region more than the nation decreases EU support. This effect is exacerbated under conditions of high regional authority, suggesting that regional identity only matters where institutional structures exist to politicize it. Part III (in progress) reevaluates assumptions drawn from the American context about how different types of identity affect a host of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. Finally, Part IV (Spring 2012) will analyze the determinants of immigrants' identity choice using original survey data from the UK and Ireland to gauge their level of psychological assimilation.
"In Times of Crisis: The Causes, Conditions, and Consequences of Pocketbook Voting"
"Inclusive v. Exclusive: A Cross-National Comparison of the Effects of Subnational, National, and Supranational Identity"
"The Determinants of Inclusive Identity Choice"
"Concentric Contexts: The Effects of Political Disagreement on Citizen Engagement in Three Countries," with Jennifer Fitzgerald
"The Mass Political Economy of International Public Debt Settlement," with David Leblang and Joseph Jupille
"Institutions and Identity: How the EU is Altering Individuals' Sense of Self"
"Identity Interplay: A Typology of Citizens' Attachments"
"Economic Voting? An Analysis of Ireland's 2009 Lisbon Treaty Referendum"