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LaGina Gause

Assistant Professor of Political Science

LaGina Gause’s research interests are in American politics with a focus on the participation and representation of low income and racial and ethnic minority communities. She is the author of The Advantage of Disadvantage: Costly Protest and Political Representation for Marginalized Groups, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2022. In other work, she examines how resources and incentives affect the strategic choices made by candidates running for office, interest groups lobbying the federal government, and legislators responding to the participation and public opinion of constituents of different races, ethnicity, and income levels.

Before joining the department of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego as an assistant professor, she was a Democracy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan, her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and her B.A. in Political Science from Howard University.

She received her Ph.D. in Public Policy and Political Science from the University of Michigan, her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan, and her B.A. in Political Science from Howard University.