Research
My interests lie in the study of democratic governance, democratization, and democratic failure focusing on political parties, public opinion, political behavior, governance, and public policy particularly. In essence, I seek to understand how public opinion and electoral politics interact with party behavior/discourses and public policymaking. My work focuses primarily on advanced democratic states, with a particular focus on Europe and the United States.
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Spoon, Jae-Jae, and Christopher J. Williams. (Forthcoming) "Environmental Chauvinism? Explaining Issue Expansion among Non-Mainstream Parties." Party Politics. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J. and Sophia Hunger. (2022) “How Challenger Party Success Runs Through Mainstream Party Contagion.” European Political Science Review. (also see here). Due to a production process error, a figure was duplicated in the original article. The correct figure is available in this erratum.
Williams, Christopher J., and John Ishiyama. (2022) “Between Position and Salience: A Voter Distribution Based Synthesis of the Proximity and Issue Competition Models.” Social Science Quarterly. (also see here)
Spoon, Jae-Jae, and Christopher J. Williams. 2021. “‘It’s the Economy Stupid’: When New Politics Parties Take on Old Politics Issues.” West European Politics. 44(4): 802-824. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Gregory Shufeldt. 2020. “How Identity Influences Public Attitudes Towards the US Federal Government: Lessons from the European Union.” Acta Politica. doi: 10.1057/s41269-020-00169-1 (also see here)
Meijers, Maurits, and Christopher J. Williams, 2020, "When Shifting Backfires: The Electoral Consequences of Responding to Niche Party Positions." Journal of European Public Policy. 27(10): 1506-1525. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Shaun Bevan, 2019, “The Effect of Public Attitudes Towards the European Union European Commission Policy Activity.” European Union Politics. 20(4): 608-628. (also see here)
Benefiel, Charlana, and Christopher J. Williams, 2019, "Taking Official Positions: How Public Policy Preferences Influence the Platforms of Parties in the United States." Electoral Studies. 57: 71-78. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Martijn Schoonvelde, 2018, “It Takes Three: How Mass Media Coverage Conditions Public Responsiveness to Policy Outputs in the United States.” Social Science Quarterly. 99(5):1627-1636. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., 2018, “Responding through Transposition: The Effect of Aggregate Public Attitudes Concerning Europe on Member State Policy Implementation.” European Political Science Review. 10(1): 51-70. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and John T. Ishiyama, 2018, “Responding to the Left: The Effect of Far-Left Parties on Mainstream Party Euroskepticsm.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. 28(4): 443-466. (also see here)
Greene, Zachary, Jae-Jae Spoon, and Christopher J. Williams, 2017, “Reading between the Lines: Party Cues and SNP Support for Scottish Independence and Brexit.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. 28(3): 307-329. (also see here)
Spoon, Jae-Jae, and Christopher J. Williams, 2017 , “It Takes Two: How Euroskeptic Public Opinion and Party Divisions Influence Party Positions.” West European Politics. 40(4): 741-762. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., 2016, “Issuing Reasoned Opinions: The Effect of Public Attitudes Towards the EU on the Usage of the ‘Early Warning System.’” European Union Politics. 17(3): 504-521. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Jae-Jae Spoon, 2015, “Differentiated Party Response: The Effect of Euroskeptic Public Opinion on Party Positions.” European Union Politics. 16(2): 176-193. (also see here)
Salzman, Ryan, Christopher J. Williams, and Bryan Calvin, 2011, “The Determinants of the Number of Amicus Briefs Filed Before the U.S. Supreme Court, 1953-2001,” Justice System Journal. 32(3): 293-313. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J. and Sophia Hunger. (2022) “How Challenger Party Success Runs Through Mainstream Party Contagion.” European Political Science Review. (also see here). Due to a production process error, a figure was duplicated in the original article. The correct figure is available in this erratum.
Williams, Christopher J., and John Ishiyama. (2022) “Between Position and Salience: A Voter Distribution Based Synthesis of the Proximity and Issue Competition Models.” Social Science Quarterly. (also see here)
Spoon, Jae-Jae, and Christopher J. Williams. 2021. “‘It’s the Economy Stupid’: When New Politics Parties Take on Old Politics Issues.” West European Politics. 44(4): 802-824. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Gregory Shufeldt. 2020. “How Identity Influences Public Attitudes Towards the US Federal Government: Lessons from the European Union.” Acta Politica. doi: 10.1057/s41269-020-00169-1 (also see here)
Meijers, Maurits, and Christopher J. Williams, 2020, "When Shifting Backfires: The Electoral Consequences of Responding to Niche Party Positions." Journal of European Public Policy. 27(10): 1506-1525. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Shaun Bevan, 2019, “The Effect of Public Attitudes Towards the European Union European Commission Policy Activity.” European Union Politics. 20(4): 608-628. (also see here)
Benefiel, Charlana, and Christopher J. Williams, 2019, "Taking Official Positions: How Public Policy Preferences Influence the Platforms of Parties in the United States." Electoral Studies. 57: 71-78. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Martijn Schoonvelde, 2018, “It Takes Three: How Mass Media Coverage Conditions Public Responsiveness to Policy Outputs in the United States.” Social Science Quarterly. 99(5):1627-1636. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., 2018, “Responding through Transposition: The Effect of Aggregate Public Attitudes Concerning Europe on Member State Policy Implementation.” European Political Science Review. 10(1): 51-70. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and John T. Ishiyama, 2018, “Responding to the Left: The Effect of Far-Left Parties on Mainstream Party Euroskepticsm.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. 28(4): 443-466. (also see here)
Greene, Zachary, Jae-Jae Spoon, and Christopher J. Williams, 2017, “Reading between the Lines: Party Cues and SNP Support for Scottish Independence and Brexit.” Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties. 28(3): 307-329. (also see here)
Spoon, Jae-Jae, and Christopher J. Williams, 2017 , “It Takes Two: How Euroskeptic Public Opinion and Party Divisions Influence Party Positions.” West European Politics. 40(4): 741-762. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., 2016, “Issuing Reasoned Opinions: The Effect of Public Attitudes Towards the EU on the Usage of the ‘Early Warning System.’” European Union Politics. 17(3): 504-521. (also see here)
Williams, Christopher J., and Jae-Jae Spoon, 2015, “Differentiated Party Response: The Effect of Euroskeptic Public Opinion on Party Positions.” European Union Politics. 16(2): 176-193. (also see here)
Salzman, Ryan, Christopher J. Williams, and Bryan Calvin, 2011, “The Determinants of the Number of Amicus Briefs Filed Before the U.S. Supreme Court, 1953-2001,” Justice System Journal. 32(3): 293-313. (also see here)
Book Chapters
Breuning, Marijke and Christopher J. Williams, 2013, “Belgium: Citizenship and Identity in a Multi-Ethnic Society,” in European Welfare States − Citizenship, Nationalism and Conflict, eds. Ireneusz Paweł Karolewski and Andrzej Marcin Suszycki. Osnabrück, Germany: Fibre Verlag. pp. 107-130.
Williams, Christopher J., 2011, “Voting Behavior,” in The 21st Century Political Science: A Reference Handbook, eds. John Ishiyama and Marijke Breuning, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc. pp. 813-822.
Williams, Christopher J., 2011, “Voting Behavior,” in The 21st Century Political Science: A Reference Handbook, eds. John Ishiyama and Marijke Breuning, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Inc. pp. 813-822.
Book Reviews
Differentiated Integration: Explaining Variation in the European Union, by Leuffen, Dirk, Rittberger, Berthold, and Schimmelfennig, Frank, Hampshire and New York: Palgrave-MacMillan, 2013. Appeared in EUSA Review Spring 2014.
Works in Progress
Williams, Christopher J. and Maurits Meijers, “When Copycats Go Astray: An Individual-Level Study of the Electoral Effects of Mainstream Parties Responding to Niche Parties.” (being prepared for submission to Political Science Research and Methods; presented at the 2019 SPSA)
Glazier, Rebecca A., Christopher J. Williams, and Leon Kockaya, “Banning the Veil:
The Effect of Religious Clothing Restrictions on Attitudes towards Muslims and Immigrants in Europe.” (being prepared for submission to Politics and Religion; presented at 2020 SPSA)
Jensen, Christian B., Christopher J. Williams, and Zachary Greene, “Policy is for Losers (and Winners): How Electoral Fortunes Conditions Incumbent Party Strategies.”
Glazier, Rebecca A., Christopher J. Williams, and Leon Kockaya, “Banning the Veil:
The Effect of Religious Clothing Restrictions on Attitudes towards Muslims and Immigrants in Europe.” (being prepared for submission to Politics and Religion; presented at 2020 SPSA)
Jensen, Christian B., Christopher J. Williams, and Zachary Greene, “Policy is for Losers (and Winners): How Electoral Fortunes Conditions Incumbent Party Strategies.”