Jonathan Hiskey

Associate Chair of Political Science Vanderbilt University

  • Nashville TN

Expert on Latin American politics and Latin American migration.

Contact

Vanderbilt University

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Biography

Jonathan Hiskey is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of Graduate Studies at Vanderbilt University. Hiskey received his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1999, winning the 2001 American Political Science Association's Gabriel A. Almond award for best dissertation in comparative politics. After spending five years at the University of California-Riverside, he joined Vanderbilt in 2005. His research interests center on local development processes in Latin America during times of political and economic reform. In particular, much of his research has focused on the development consequences of Latin America's uneven political and economic transitions over the past thirty years, with a particular interest in Mexico. More recently, Hiskey has carried out research on the political implications of migration for sending communities across Latin America. He is the author of articles in such journals as the American Journal of Political Science, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies and the Latin American Research Review. Most recently, Hiskey was a contributor and co-editor of a special volume of the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science entitled "Continental Divides: International Migration in the Americas" (July 2010).

Areas of Expertise

Honduras
Guatemala
Migration
Crime in Latin America
Immigration
Latin American Politics
Latin America
Migrant Crisis
El Salvador

Education

University of Pittsburgh

Ph.D.

Political Science

1999

Dissertation: Does Democracy Matter? Electoral Competition and Local Development in Mexico
Winner of 2001 Gabriel A. Almond award by American Political Science Association for best
dissertation in comparative politics, 1999-2000

University of Pittsburgh

M.A.

Political Science

1995

Florida International University

M.A.

International Studies

1993

Graduate Certificate, Latin American and Caribbean Studies

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Affiliations

  • American Political Science Association
  • Latin American Studies Association
  • Southern Political Science Association
  • Southwestern Political Science Association
  • Midwest Political Science Association

Selected Media Appearances

The false promises of more immigration enforcement

Vox  online

2021-06-03

Another study, conducted by Vanderbilt University political science professor Jonathan Hiskey and co-authors, similarly found that knowledge of heightened US deterrence efforts didn’t influence people’s decision to migrate.

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Is there a crisis at the US-Mexico border? 6 essential reads

The Conversation  online

2019-01-08

For three years, first as a presidential candidate, then as president of the United States, Donald Trump has insisted that the country must stem immigration by building a wall along its southern border – an expensive gambit that few Americans support and that Democratic lawmakers virulently oppose.

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Border Measures Part of Trump’s Bigger Immigration Crackdown

Voice of America  online

2018-07-14

They also questioned whether detention would stop migrants from heading north. Jonathan Hiskey, a political science professor at Vanderbilt University, said research has shown that efforts to deter immigration might dissuade some job seekers from heading north but not those fleeing violence like gang killings in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Hiskey conducted research during the surge in Central American migration in 2014 and said while many knew it was tougher to make it to the United States, those who were crime victims still planned to try. And the prospect of being detained upon arrival — something the Obama administration tried with family detention centers — wouldn’t stop them.

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Selected Event Appearances

Stacking the Deck: Political Participation in Dominant-Party Regimes

Latin American Studies Association  Lima, Peru

2017-04-29

Are All Political Attitudes Local? Uneven Democracy and Authoritarian Learning in Argentina and Mexico

American Political Science Association  Philadelphia

2016-09-01

The Refugee’s Dilemma: Violence, Migration, and the “Expedited Removal” Campaign

American Political Science Association  San Francisco

2015-09-03

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Selected Articles

Leaving the Devil You Know: Crime Victimization, US Deterrence Policy, and the Emigration Decision in Central America

Latin American Research Review

Hiskey, Jonathan T., Abby Córdova, Mary Fran Malone, and Diana M. Orcés

2018

Following a sharp increase in the number of border arrivals from the violence-torn countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras in the spring and summer of 2014, the United States quickly implemented a strategy designed to prevent such surges by enhancing its detention and deportation efforts. In this article, we examine the emigration decision for citizens living in the high-crime contexts of northern Central America.

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Severed Linkages: Distorted Accountability in Uneven Regimes

Comparative Political Studies

Jonathan T. Hiskey, Mason W. Moseley

2017

Though a general consensus exists regarding the significance of perceived performance in voters’ evaluations of incumbent governments, much of the research underlying this consensus has been carried out across political systems with little internal variance in the degree of democracy. We propose that in emerging regimes, where such uniformity in terms of the territorial diffusion of democracy is not a given, characteristics of subnational political regimes can prevent electoral linkages from forming.

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Shaping Politics at Home: Cross-Border Social Ties and Local-Level Political Engagement

Comparative Political Studies

Abby Córdova, Jonathan Hiskey

2015

The dramatic rise of democratic regimes around the world has coincided with an equally significant increase in migration, characterized by an unprecedented movement of people from emerging to established democracies. Through analysis of survey data from six Latin American countries, we offer an empirical evaluation of theoretical mechanisms through which migration can shape the political behaviors of non-migrants in sending nations.

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