Education
Ph.D Political Science, University of Colorado, 1992
B.A. Political Science, Seattle University, 1986
Biography
Sean Q Kelly is Professor of Political Science. A native of Seattle, WA, he earned his BA in political science from Seattle University in 1986 and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Colorado in 1992. A specialist in American politics, Kelly teaches broadly, focusing on political institutions, public policy, and public administration.
Kelly’s research focuses on the study of American political institutions and public policy. As an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow (1993-1994) he served on the staff of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, an arm of the Democratic Leadership in the U.S. Senate. He is the co-author (with Scott Frisch) Committee Assignment Politics in the U.S. House of Representatives (University of Oklahoma Press 2006), Jimmy Carter and the Water Wars: Presidential Influence and the Politics of Pork (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press 2008), and Cheese Factories on the Moon: Why Earmarks are Good for American Democracy (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers 2011). Kelly is co-editor of Campaigns and Political Marketing (Haworth Press 2006), Doing Archival Research in Political Science (Amherst, NY: Cambria Press 2012), Politics to the Extreme (Palgrave 2013), and Robert H. Michel: Leading the Republican House Minority (University Press of Kansas 2019), and author or coauthor of numerous journal articles and book chapters. Kelly is the past Editor of the Legislative Studies Section's Extension of Remarks and served on the Editorial Board of the International Encyclopedia of Political Science (CQ Press). He is a past member of the Executive Council of the Western Political Science Association of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress.
Before joining the faculty at Channel Islands, Kelly taught at East Carolina University and Niagara University. While at Niagara University, he served as Chair of the Department of Political Science, Director of the Environmental Leadership Institute, and Director of Environmental Studies. Active in the Niagara Falls community, he served as Chair of the Niagara Falls Charter Commission, Chair of the Lake Ontario Ordnance Works Restoration Advisory Board, and in several volunteer positions for Niagara County. He was cited by both the city of Niagara Falls and the Niagara County Legislature for his volunteer activities.
Representative Courses Taught
- POLS 150 American Political Institutions
- POLS 300 Research Methods in Political Science
- POLS 310 Statistical Applications in Political Science
Scholarship
Keywords
American politics, Congress, the presidency, public policy, archival research