Richard Sisson
Professor Emeritus of Political Science
Professor Sisson has research
and teaching interests in comparative politics with special emphasis on legislatures, parties, electoral
politics, and democratization, particularly in India and other states of Asia. His current research focuses
on voting behavior and electoral politics in contemporary India. He is the author of War and Secession:
Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh; Congress and Indian Nationalism: The Preindependence Phase;
and The Congress Party in Rajasthan: Political Integration and Institution Building in an Indian State. He
has been a frequent contributor to edited volumes and a variety of professional journals. He currently serves
as General Editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of the American Midwest, is co-editor (with Edward D.
Mansfield) of the forthcoming The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Theory and Inquiry in American Politics
and the companion volume The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Democracy, Autonomy, and Conflict in
Comparative and International Politics, and, with Geoffrey Parker, is co-editor of the forthcoming Ohio and
the World: From Circa 1753 to Circa 2053. He has been active in professional organizations having served as
Co-Chair of the Program Committee of the American Political Science Association, as Chair of the Council of
Provosts of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and as President of
the Ohio Historical Society. He served as Interim President of The Ohio State University, and until his
retirement held the Board of Trustees Chair in Comparative Politics.
Selected Publications:
2004. The Evolution of Political Knowledge: Theory and Inquiry in American Politics. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press. (edited with Edward Mansfield)
1991. War and Secession: Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh. Berkeley:University of California Press. (with Leo E. Rose)
My Curriculum Vita (pdf)
