Project Mentors
Dr. Evan Perkoski
Department: Political Science
Dr. Christopher Wiley Shay
Department: Human Rights Institute
Research Project Overview:
Dr. Shay is currently developing the Post-Regime Change Trials (PRCT) dataset, a data project which advances the study of transitional justice – especially trials and tribunals. At its heart, this project is about investigating the conditions under which justice supports democratization and normalizes respect for human rights.
Other transitional justice datasets already exist, but they gloss over important differences between trials. For example, former state leaders were tried in both Argentina and Indonesia after those countries democratized, but the human rights community praised the Argentine process while condemning the Indonesian trials as badly flawed. These differences in trial quality likely have important downstream effects on governments and societies. While free and fair trials probably contribute to democratic consolidation, flawed trials probably do not. Once completed, the PRCT will make it possible to test this hypothesis.
To complete the PRCT, Dr. Shay needs an assistant to research cases of transitional justice around the world. Based on that research, each case needs to be coded in terms of whether it was free of political interference and whether due process was respected. Trials will be designated as either ‘free and fair’ or ‘flawed’. With the help of additional research assistants, Dr. Shay can expand the temporal scope of the project (currently, it only explores trials that occurred between 1980-2005), or Dr. Shay can incorporate truth and reconciliation commissions into the project as well (coding them for quality similarly to trials).
Role of a SHARE Summer Apprentice:
Under the primary mentorship of Dr. Shay, an RA would research cases of transitional justice by consulting academic and journalistic work. After a round of training, the RA would then use the PRCT codebook to start assessing cases for quality- designating trials as either free and fair or flawed. The RA would then write up a brief research note (for inclusion in published material) about each case. The data would be extremely valuable to political scientists studying human rights, while the research notes could be a valuable pedagogical tool for the general public.
The RA is likely to gain valuable experience participating in a quantitative data project. They will:
- Master a conceptual framework of definitions (the codebook),
- Learn to use digitized academic and media archives available through the library (especially LexusNexus)
- Learn to input qualitative research as numeric data into a spreadsheet (Google Sheets)
- Learn to write up synopses of cases for a lay audience
Summer Schedule/Time Commitment:
The apprentice is expected to work the full 92 hours. The RA is expected to commit to a minimum of about 15 hours per week for the first two weeks (as training proceeds), hours can be much more flexible afterward. The RA may pause work for one or two extended breaks if need be (of 1-2 weeks).
Preferred Qualifications:
The apprentice should have some familiarity with spreadsheet software like Excel or Google Sheets. Coursework in human rights, transitional justice, or international politics is preferred. Coursework in statistics is also preferred. Proficiency (e.g., being able to read a newspaper) in a major foreign language (e.g., Spanish, French, etc.) would be potentially very useful for coding purposes.
To Apply:
The application is closed.