Jennifer Nicoll Victor
Associate Professor
Schar School of Policy and Government
George Mason University
Professor Victor studies the U.S. Congress, legislative organization and behavior, social network methods, political parties, campaign finance, organized interest groups, and lobbying. Her current book project is Connecting Congress: How power, trust, and resilience emerge in legislative networks. She is the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Political Networks (2017). She is the co-author (with Nils Ringe) of Bridging the Information Gap: Legislative Member Organizations in the United States and the European Union (U. Michigan Press 2013). Professor Victor has published research in the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, American Politics Research, Party Politics, Interest Groups & Advocacy, P.S.: Political Science and Politics, and elsewhere. In 2019 she was awarded George Mason University’s Teaching Excellence Award. In 2020, Professor Victor wrote a 24-lecture course on “Understanding U.S. Government,” which is produced by WondriumTM and available to the public through a subscription.
Professor Victor is a co-founding contributor to the political science blog “Mischiefs of Faction,” and is a contributing writer for GEN by Medium. Her public scholarship has also appeared in The New York Times, The Conversation, OUP Blog, and LSE US Politics blog. Professor Victor serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit, non-partisan OpenSecrets, is the past president of the National Capital Area Political Science Association, and past Chair of the APSA organized section on Political Networks. She served as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress from September 2019 to January 2020. In 2005 she served as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the office of Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). From 2003-2012 she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the faculty at George Mason University in 2012. Professor Victor holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (Magna Cum Laude, 1997), and an M.A. (1999) and Ph.D. (2003) in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.
Areas of Research
- U.S. Congress
- U.S. political parties
- Campaign Finance
- Interest Groups
- Quantitative Methods
- Social Network Analysis
Contact and e-profiles
- VIRTUAL MEETING SCHEDULER
- Email me: jvictor3@gmu.edu
- Mischiefs of Faction (blog)
- Twitter @jennifernvictor
- Google Scholar Profile
- Women also Know Stuff Profile
- Medium Profile
Physical Address
George Mason University
Aquia Hall 325
Mailing Address
Schar School of Policy and Government
George Mason University
4400 University Drive, 3F4
Fairfax, VA 22030
Direct: (703) 993-3202 (disconnected)
Main: (703) 993-1400