FORMAL THEORY (game theory, social choice theory, decision theory, social order and disorder, bargaining problems, philosophical foundations of rationality, strategy in politics)

QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY (OLS, MLE, discrete-choice models)
 

Christopher Butler specializes in international conflict and applying formal theory to political problems. He has presented papers at several professional conferences (APSA, Midwest, ISA, and Peace Science). He has also served as a manuscript reviewer for the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Peace Research. Chris has taught Introduction to Political Science and Introduction to International Relations, and has received excellent reviews from his students. His honors include defending his dissertation without revisions, induction into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, a Graduate Office Fellowship, an Internship with the American Political Science Review and a Dissertation Completion Fellowship from the Graduate School. Chris has also been active in the department, serving as President of the Graduate Students Association. His research interests center around questions of social order. These interests include the creation and maintenance of society from anarchy, the role of bargaining and fairness in maintaining order, and the changing nature of sovereignty as the basis of international order. His dissertation focuses on the dispute-initiation behavior of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The empirical analysis of his dissertation emphasizes the importance of diplomatic influence in explaining the behavior of the superpowers toward one another. Results of his analysis have been presented at the annual meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association in Spring 2000 and the International Studies Association in Spring 1999. The dissertation wwas defended in April 2000 and deposited with the Graduate School in July 2000. Committee: Scott Gates (Chair), James Granato, Charles W. Ostrom, Jr., Kenneth C. Williams, and Bruce Bueno de Mesquita (Hoover Institution, Stanford University).
 

Contact:

Christopher Butler
Department of Political Science
303 South Kedzie Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1032

E-Mail: butlerc2@msu.edu
Webpage (for cv):http://www.msu.edu/~butlerc2
(517) 887-8517 (home)
(517) 355-2166 (department)
FAX: (517) 432-1544