Nathan Micatka CV

I am a PhD Candidate in political science at the University of Iowa. I study public policy, poverty, and political behavior in the United States, with an emphasis on social policy and welfare. My research examines how people's experiences with public policies shape their political behaviors and attitudes. I am especially interested in the role of policy design and implementation in this process. I also explore how poverty and social policy experiences impact civic engagement and political attitudes over time. 

In my dissertation, I bridge scholarship on policy feedback and political socialization to better understand the long-term effects of government policies on individuals and their political behaviors and attitudes. Focusing on adolescence, I study how people's experiences with government policy programs, such as TANF and SNAP, during youth impact their political orientations and political behaviors in adulthood. This research is supported by a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG) through the American Political Science Association/National Science Foundation.

My research has been published or is forthcoming in Policy Studies Journal, Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Electoral Studies, Representation, and the Journal of Political Institutions and Economy.
 

Awards:

• Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award, 2024
• Lowenberg and Mans Summer Scholarship, 2024
• Graduate College Summer Fellowship, 2023
• Graduate College Post-Comprehensive Research Fall Fellowship, 2022
• Graduate College Summer Fellowship, 2022
• Best Graduate Student Seminar Paper Award, 2021
• Ballard & Seashore Scholarship, Spring 2025

Grants:

• Conference Travel Grant, American Political Science Association, 2024
• Dissertation Research Grant ($1500), UI Graduate Student Government, 2024
• Dissertation Research Grant ($765), UI Graduate Student Government, 2022

Presentations:

• "The Political Consequences of Systemic Negative Policy Experiences in Youth." American Political Science Association Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, September 2024.
• "The Composition of Electorates in Partisan vs. Nonpartisan Primaries" (with Todd Donovan & Caroline Tolbert). State Politics and Policy Conference, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, June 2024.
• "Primary Election Rules, Competition, and Voter Turnoutâ" (with Caroline Tolbert & Robert Boatright). Election Science, Reform, and Administration Conference, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, May 2024.
• “Help or Hindrance? The Moderating Effects of State Welfare Policies on Youth Voting.” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2024.
• “Waking up to Politics: How Sleep Quality Relates to Political Participation” (with Fatih Erol & Aleks Ksiazkiewicz). Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2024.
• “Does Ranked Choice Voting in Primaries Alter the Electorate?” (with Todd Donovan & Caroline Tolbert). Western Political Science Association Annual Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March 2024.
• “Is there a National Primary Electorate? Ideology and Representativeness in State Primary Electorates, 2014-22” (with Robert Boatright & Caroline Tolbert). Southern Political Science Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA, January 2024.
• “The Persistent Effects of Multiple Policy Experiences during Adolescence,” Midwest Political Science Association Conference, 2023
• “Socializing Policy Feedback: The Long-term Effects of Welfare Program Participation in Adolescence,” Midwest Political Science Association Conference, 2022