About

I am Associate Professor in Research Methods for the Social Sciences at the School of Politics and International Relations of University College Dublin, teaching primarily modules on statistics and research methodology. Previously, I was a pre-doctoral fellow at the Harvard-MIT Data Center of the Institute of Quantitative Social Science at Harvard University.

My research focuses on three different strands, all involving the application or development of statistical methods to the study of political science. The main research agenda concerns the development of techniques for spatial econometric analysis of political phenomena, building on my PhD thesis on the international diffusion of democracy. Work with Raffaella Calabrese and Thomas Grund, concentrates on the estimation of spatial econometric models with discrete dependent variables. While spatial correlations are common in studies of policy diffusion, regime transitions, voting behaviour, etc., little attention has thus far been paid to the resulting complications in statistical estimation, in particular when the dependent variable is dichotomous in nature.

The second strand is concerned with the application of recent advances in statistical analysis to the study of political elites in Russia, in collaboration with Alexander Baturo, with a focus on understanding institutionalisation, personalisation, and patronage networks in the Kremlin. This project is now being expanded by collecting similar data on the Chinese political regime.

The third strand involves the study of voting behaviour in particular in referendums and elections in Ireland, building on previous collaboration with Richard Sinnott.

In my spare time I enjoy sailing with Sailing in Dublin; running with Steffi; tennis at Lansedown LTC; hiking, originally through Out and About Hiking; playing the piano; playing go; computer programming; and occasionally online and offline computer gaming. I am the founder and original programmer of the online multiplayer roleplaying game Cantr II, which is based on a Lego city game I used to play in childhood.

Contact information

University College Dublin | ORCID | Scopus | Google Scholar | Twitter

My Gmail, Skype, PlayStation, and WeChat accounts start with jelkink. My primary email is the Gmail one.

If you want to send me something by mail, you can use my work address:

Johan A. Dornschneider-Elkink
School of Politics and International Relations
University College Dublin
Belfield, Dublin 4
Ireland

My office is G309 in the Newman Building. I do not have dedicated office hours. If you want to make an appointment, email first.