Introduction
I grew up in Bath, where I attended state schools, before studying PPE and then an MPhil in Comparative Government at Exeter College, Oxford. I took my DPhil in Politics at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, and subsequently became a Junior Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute. In 2016 I was appointed to my first academic post at Royal Holloway, University of London, where my research was supported in part by British Academy postdoctoral and mid-career fellowships. In 2026, I returned to Oxford as the inaugural Churchill Associate Professor of U.S. Politics at the Rothermere American Institute in association with The Queen’s College.
Teaching
I teach tutorials in U.S. Politics and supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations on U.S. Politics at Oxford with a particular focus on federalism, public policy, and American Political Development. I am leading the development of Oxford’s first MSc in American Politics at the Rothermere American Institute.
Research
My research in American Political Development examines how law, institutions, and public policy shape representation and political inequality in the United States. My award-winning first monograph demonstrated that state policymakers learned to design school voucher programmes to minimize legal vulnerability. Subsequent work examined how policy drift perpetuates and deepens racial inequalities via welfare retrenchment, and how courts adjudicate the constitutionality of drifting policies. My most recent monograph and associated papers develop original spatial measures of redistricting continuity and change. This work identifies the strategic uses of minimal-change redistricting: to shield incumbents from electoral risk, preserve the benefits of prior gerrymanders, and obstruct Black and Latino voters from achieving representation.
Publications
A full list of my publications is available at www.ursulahackett.com