Education

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Ph.D. in Political Science, May 2003

Major: American Politics

Minors: Public Policy and Research Methods

Dissertation: PACs, Legislative Context and Congressional Decision-making: The

Variable Nature of PAC Influence. Advisor: David Lowery.

Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy,

State University of New York, Albany, NY

M.A. in Political Science, May 1998

State University of New York, Plattsburgh, NY

B.A. in Political Science, May 1996

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor, Government Department

California State University, Sacramento

Fall 2003-Present, Sacramento, CA

Graduate Teaching Assistant and Instructor

University of North Carolina

Fall 2000 – Spring 2003, Chapel Hill, NC

Graduate Teaching Assistant

State University of New York

Spring 1997 – Spring 1998, Albany, NY

Teaching Interests

U.S. National Institutions and Policy State and Local Government and Policy

Parties and Interest Groups Research Methods

Research

Journal Articles

“PACs, Issue Context and Congressional Decision Making.” 2005. Accepted at Political Research Quarterly.

“Measuring the Stringency of State Campaign Finance Regulation.” 2005. Forthcoming at State Politics and Policy Quarterly 5(3).

“Business Mobilization and Public Policy in the U.S. States.” (Christopher Witko and Adam J. Newmark). 2005. Social Science Quarterly 86(2): 356-367.

“Cold War Belligerence and U.S. Public Opinion Toward Defense Spending.” 2003. American Politics Research 31(4): 379-403.

Book Chapters

“National Parties, Individual Choices.” 2005. (Sally Friedman with Christopher Witko). In Dilemmas of Representation: The Home Styles of New York State Representatives

in the 1990’s by Sally Friedman. Accepted at SUNY Press.

Work in Progress and Under Review

“Issue Salience and the Politics of State Environmental Spending.” (Adam J. Newmark and Christopher Witko). Under Review.

“Explaining Variation in the Stringency of State Campaign Finance Regulation.”

“The Politics and Economics of State Infrastructure Investment, 1964-1999.” (Christopher Witko and Adam J. Newmark).

“Business Backgrounds and Congressional Behavior.” (Sally Friedman and Christopher Witko).

Conference Papers and Presentations

“Business Backgrounds and Congressional Behavior.” (with Sally Friedman). 2005. Paper accepted for presentation at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., September.

“Paddle to the Left, Paddle to the Right: Schwarzenegger’s 2004 Legislative Record.”

2005. Roundtable on “Arnold the Legislator: Gubernatorial-Legislative Relations in the First Year of the Schwarzenegger Administration.” Invited presentation at the Western Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Oakland, California, March.

“Business Climate Pressures and State Investment Spending” (with Adam Newmark). 2005. Paper presented at the Southern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January.

“Mobilization and Public Policy: Business versus Environmental Organizations” (with Adam Newmark). 2004. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April.

“Business Mobilization and Public Policy in the American States.” (with Adam Newmark). 2003. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Phildelphia, PA, September.

“Campaign Contributions and Legislative Effort.” 2003. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April.

“PACs, Legislative Context and Congressional Decision-making: The Variable Nature of PAC Influence.” 2002. Poster presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, September.

“Mobilization, Engagement and Aggregate Participation.” (with Luke J. Keele). 2002. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, September.

“Money, Member Goals, and Legislative Decision-making: The Variable Nature of PAC Influence.” 2002. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April.

“Political Participation: The Complex Role of Elite Mobilization and Civic Engagement.” (with Luke J. Keele). 2002. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April.

“American Public Opinion on Defense Spending During the Cold War.” 2001. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, April.

“Public Opinion on Defense Spending.” 2000. Paper presented at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Albany, NY, November.

“Congressonal Decision-making on Defense Spending Votes.” 1998. Paper presented at the Northeastern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, November.

Non-refereed Papers and Articles

“What California Offers Business.” 2004. The Sacramento Bee, 20 August, Opinion.

“Dilemmas of Representation: The Home Styles of New York State Representatives in the 1990’s.” with Sally Friedman, et. al. 1999. Extension of Remarks 22: 2-4. American Political Science Association Legislative Studies Section.

“Alternative Commutation by Commuter Rail: An Examination of the Reverse and Intra-suburban Commuting Programs of the Five Commuter Railroads with Recommendations for Increased Intermodal Suburban Transit Usage.” (Janis Veeder with Christopher Witko et. al.). 1998. New York State Senate Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices.

Research and Related Professional Experience

Summer 2000-Spring 2002 – White House 2001 Project (Nomination Forms Online), with Professor Terry Sullivan

Summer 2001-Spring 2002 – Assisted in the preparation of a survey of interest group activity in the American states, with Professors David Lowery and Virginia Gray

Summer 1998-Summer 1999 – Youth Programs Specialist, Suffolk County Department of Labor, Hauppauge, NY.

Summer 1996 and Summer 1997 – Analyst, New York State Senate Legislative Commission on Critical Transportation Choices (Senator Norman J. Levy, Chair), Albany, NY.

Spring 1996 – Intern, The Campaign for New Priorities, Washington, D.C.

Honors, Grants and Awards

Faculty Travel Grant, Office of Research and Sponsored Projects, California State University, Sacramento, 2004.

Graduate Student Travel Grant, State Politics and Policy Section of the American Political Science Association, 2003.

Summer Research Grant, American Politics Research Group, University of North Carolina, 2000 and 2002.

Nominated for the Earl Wallace Award for Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching, 2001

Wojcik Award for Outstanding Graduating Senior in Political Science, State University of New York, Plattsburgh, 1996

Presidential Scholarship, State University of New York, Plattsburgh, 1992-1996

Phi Alpha Theta (National History Honor Society)

Omicron Delta Kappa (National Leadership Honor Society)

Departmental and University Service

Member, Labor Studies Program Faculty Advisory Council, California State University, Sacramento, 2005-Present

Member, Outstanding Service Award Committee, College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies, California State University, Sacramento, 2005.

Faculty Adviser, College Democrats, California State University, Sacrament 2005-Present

Faculty Adviser, Progressive Student Union, California State University, Sacramento, 2003-Present

Member, Government Department Curriculum Committee, California State University, Sacramento, 2003-Present

Graduate Student Representative, University of North Carolina, U.S. National Institutions Search Committee, 2002

Professional Service

Reviewer, Journal of Politics

Reviewer, American Journal of Political Science

Reviewer, American Politics Research

Professional Memberships

American Political Science Association Midwest Political Science Association

Southern Political Science Association Western Political Science Association

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