MICHAEL E. SHEPHERD 

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Health & Society Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

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My research program focuses on questions of political and economic inequality, with an emphasis on the experiences of marginalized groups with government and the politics of health policy in the US. My dissertation book project combines these interests, focusing on how poor, rural people experience and politically-respond to a variety of health experiences and policies.  This project won the 2022 Best Dissertation Award from the Class & Inequality section of the American Political Science Association.

My research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Election Law Journal,  the Journal of Public Policy, Political Science Research & Methods, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

I received my PhD in Political Science from Vanderbilt University. Prior to Vanderbilt,  I earned my Master’s of Applied Politics degree at the University of Akron and my Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Murray State University. 

Welcome to my academic website. I am

an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Email me at

michael.shepherd@austin.utexas.edu with any

questions or comments. 

Assistant Professor  - University of Texas at Austin