https://www.josephfcozza.com/contact daily 0.75 2022-07-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d42e11934ac4f91ec8e72/1620934751929-S8QX017ZD3UFF2RCRBXW/Screen+Shot+2021-05-13+at+2.38.47+PM.png Contact Me - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.josephfcozza.com/teaching daily 0.75 2026-06-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d42e11934ac4f91ec8e72/0b574d5a-9399-4dd5-8594-ecf36a25cd43/Option3+copy.jpg Teaching - Teaching Philosophy Civic education is a critical component of a functioning democracy. As political scientists, we enjoy the opportunity to educate the next generation of citizens to think critically about the most pressing issues facing our country and our world. As a scholar and an educator, I work every day toward this goal both in my research and, most importantly, in the classroom. At Smith College, Rice University, and the University of Texas, I worked with a diverse set of undergraduate students, building their knowledge of politics in the United States, Western Europe, and the Global South through course lectures, classroom discussions, and individual conversations in office hours. There are three key takeaways that I have gleaned from my experience that have shaped my approached to course instruction: educate citizens and scholars, employ diverse teaching strategies, and teach comparatively. I have a particular passion for teaching US constitutional law, comparative constitutionalism, American and comparative judicial politics, party politics, and research design. Below, you will find a list of undergraduate classes I had the opportunity to teach. https://www.josephfcozza.com/pagecv daily 0.75 2025-07-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d42e11934ac4f91ec8e72/fce0c0a7-b239-4d87-b0ff-000d71e98605/Screenshot+2025-07-13+at+11.09.12%E2%80%AFAM.png CV - If you’re interested in learning more about my educational background, publications and working papers, teaching experience, or prior political experience, please click on the image to download my full CV https://www.josephfcozza.com/publications-and-working-papers daily 0.75 2026-06-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d42e11934ac4f91ec8e72/252df581-59bb-41a7-8acc-6a91e19d68b2/Option1.jpg Publications and Working Papers - My Research My research agenda crosses traditional subfield lines to examine how citizens can be empowered to affect constitutional change, with a particular focus on questions of democratic legitimacy. Using quantitative, qualitative, and experimental methods, I critically assess the benefits and limits of participatory democracy as well as the influence of social capital in constitutional processes. In doing so, I look specifically at citizen engagement with constitutional and judicial structures, assessing the dialogical relationship between institutional design, citizen behavior, and political culture. My work has been published in the American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies, and Constitutional Studies and includes book projects with Cambridge University Press. https://www.josephfcozza.com/home daily 1.0 2026-06-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/609d42e11934ac4f91ec8e72/2032ce78-c756-47e2-bfc0-a137b9d3ec10/IMG_0004+copy.JPG Home - About Me I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Smith College. My research interests include constitutional change, comparative courts and judicial systems, referendum processes, and party politics. I am particularly interested in examining how and when citizen participation and deliberation can enhance the legitimacy of democratic outcomes, especially in the constitutional arena. I earned my PhD from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022. Before entering academia, I worked as a policy advisor in the Delaware State Senate and spent several years working on political campaigns. When I’m not reading, writing, or teaching, I enjoy cooking old family recipes, attending the theater or catching some live music, cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles, and watching the latest season of Drag Race.