Directory

Profile

Nancy Martorano Miller received her B.A. in Political Science from Clemson University (1995) and her M.A. (2000) and Ph.D. (2002) in Political Science from Rice University. She joined the University of Dayton as part of the Political Science faculty as an assistant professor in the fall of 2002. She was promoted to associate professor in 2008.

Dr. Martorano Miller's research focuses on governing institutions and processes at the state-level. Her past research has focused on state legislative committee systems and minority party procedural rights. Her current research focuses on the politics of state constitutions. She was awarded the Alan Rosenthal Prize by the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association in 2007 for her research on state legislative committee systems. Dr. Martorano Miller was a keynote speaker at "The Rights of the Political Minority" conference held at the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University in 2014, where she highlighted her research on minority party procedural rights in the policy-making process.

She has received grant funding from the National Science Foundation, The Center for the Study of Institutions and Values at Rice University, the Research Council at the University of Dayton, the University of Dayton Women's Center, and the University of Dayton College of Arts and Sciences' Liberal Arts Catalyst grant program.

Her work has appeared in the academic journals Legislative Studies Quarterly, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, American Review of Politics, Journal of Legislative Studies, Albany Law Review and The Social Science Journal. Dr. Martorano Miller has also served as the associate editor of State Politics and Policy Quarterly.

Dr. Martorano Miller has provided political commentary for numerous local (Dayton Daily News, Channel 2, and Channel 22/45), national (CNN.com, Associated Press) and international (BBC) media outlets. She has also appeared as a guest on Sirius XM's "Jim Parson's is Too Stupid for Politics."

Faculty perspective

"What I enjoy most about being a member of the faculty in the Department of Political Science at the University of Dayton is the close interaction between faculty and students. The ability to offer experiential and co-curricular learning experiences help build bonds between faculty and students that go well beyond classroom interactions."

Courses taught

• Political Science Senior Capstone
• State and Local Government
• Political Analysis
• Quantitative Methods Sequence for MPA

Professional activities

• Associate Editor of State Politics and Policy Quarterly, 2008-2014
• Member of Editorial Board Legislative Studies Quarterly, 2010-2012
• Member of Executive Council of the State Politics and Policy section of the American Political Science Association, 2006-2008
• Member of American Political Science Association

Research interests

• State Constitutions
• State Legislative Politics
• Political Parties and Interest Groups
• Public Policy in the American States

Selected publications and presentations

Publications

"An Alternative Route to Voting Reform: the Right to Vote, Voter Registration, Redistricting and U.S. State Constitutions," Publius: The Journal of Federalism, (Summer 2019), with Keith E. Hamm, Maria Aroca and Ronald D. Hedlund.

"Legislative Politics in the States." In Politics in the American States: A Comparative Analysis, 11th ed., eds. Virginia Gray, Russell L. Hanson and Thad Kousser. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press (2017) with Keith E. Hamm.

"Constrained Behavior: Understanding the Entrenchment of Legislative Procedure in American State Constitutional Law," Albany Law Review, (2015) with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund.

"State Legislatures," The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government, Donald P. Haider-Markel (ed). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (2014) with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund.

"The Coingate Effect: The Impact of Scandal on Attitudes Toward State and Federal Political Actors," The Social Science Journal, (March 2012) with Stacy G. Ulbig.

"Partisan Stacking on Legislative Committees," Legislative Studies Quarterly, (May 2009) with Ronald D. Hedlund, Kevin Coombs and Keith E. Hamm

"Measuring State Legislative Committee Power: Change and Chamber Differences in the 20th Century," State Politics and Policy Quarterly, (Spring 2006), with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund.

"Balancing Power: Committee System Autonomy and Legislative Organization," Legislative Studies Quarterly. (May 2006).

"Cohesion or Reciprocity? Majority Party Strength and Minority Party Procedural Rights in the Legislative Process," State Politics and Policy Quarterly. (Spring 2004).

"Structuring Committee Decision Making: Rules and Procedures in U.S. State Houses and Senates." Journal of Legislative Studies. (Summer 2001), Vol. 7, No. 2, with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund.

"A Transforming South: Exploring Patterns of State House Seat Contestation," American Review of Politics. (Spring/Summer 2000), with R. Bruce Anderson and Keith E. Hamm.

Presentations 

"Why Study State Constitutions," with Maria Aroca, Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA (August 2017).

"Sticky Legacies: Persistence of State Constitutional Provisions," with Maria Aroca, Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA (September 2016).

"Powers, Mandates, Restrictions and Exclusions, Oh My...Exploring the Influence of State Constitutions on the Legislative Branch," with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois (April 2016)

"I've got an Issue with this Issue?: The Impact of Ballot Issue Summary Complexity and Media Coverage on Voter Rolloff and Passage Rates," with Allison Cozad and Grant W. Neeley. Paper presented at the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, Illinois (April 2016)

"The Evolution of Constitutional Restrictiveness in State Legislatures," Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, CA (September 2015).

"Working in a Cage: The Evolution of Constitutional Restrictiveness in U.S. State Legislatures," with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the 15th annual State Politics and Policy Conference, Sacramento, CA (May 2015).

"Constrained Behavior: Understanding the Entrenchment of Legislative Procedure in American State Constitutional Law," with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Washington, DC (August 2014).

"With One Hand Tied Behind Their Backs: Constitutional Entrenchment in State Legislatures," with Keith E. Hamm and Ronald D. Hedlund. Paper presented at the State Politics and Policy Conference, Bloomington, Indiana (May 2014).

Invited Talks

OhioHealth Gerlach Center for Senior Health (October 2016), "Navigating the 2016 Election."

Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University (September 2014), Keynote Speaker, "The Rights of the Political Minority," conference. The title of the address is "Disappearing Quorums, Big Berthas and Critical Mass: Minority Party Obstruction in the States."

Ohio State University Department of Political Science (October 2013), "With One Hand Tied Behind Their Backs: Understanding External Constraints on State Legislatures."