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Dr. Armstrong’s research focuses on elite behavior, political economy, and comparative political institutions. Specifically, her research explores how politicians’ personal characteristics shape their strategies in office and how institutional change may alter these strategies. Currently, her work focuses on the role of gender and opposition party membership and how it influences democratic behavior of elites. She has published research in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Latin American Politics and Society, and American Politics Research.

Ph.D. in Political Science, 2023
Texas A&M University
 

B.A. in Political Science, 2018
University of Kentucky

• Comparative politics
• Political institutions
• Legislative politics
• Executive politics
• Political leadership 
• Elite behavior
• Political Systems of Latin America
• Women in Politics (American or Comparative Politics)
• Comparative Political Economy
• Comparative Bureaucratic Politics 
• Political administration
• Advanced methods
• Undergraduate methods

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• "Choice Overload in Crowded Primary Elections" with Spencer Goidel. Forthcoming at American Politics Research. 
• “Media Treatment of Male and Female Members of Presidential Cabinets in a Cross-Country Comparison” with Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson. Forthcoming at Latin American Politics and Society. 
• Goidel, Spencer, Thiago MQ Moreira, and Brenna Armstrong. "Party Realignment, Education, and the Turnout Advantage: Revisiting the Partisan Effect of Turnout." American Politics Research 52, no. 1 (2024): 23-29. 
• Armstrong, Brenna, Tiffany D. Barnes, Daina Chiba, and Diana Z. O’Brien. 2024. "Financial Crises and the Selection and Survival of Women Finance Ministers." American Political Science Review 118(3): 1305-1323. 
• Armstrong, Brenna, Tiffany D. Barnes, Diana Z. O’Brien, and Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson. 2022. "Corruption, accountability, and women’s access to power." The Journal of Politics 84(2): 12071213. 

Works Under Review 

• “Oversight, Corruption, and Politician Strategies” 

Working Papers 

• “A Gendered Penalty? The International Monetary Impact of Female Finance Ministers” 
• “Gendered Policy Platforms? The Case of U.S. State Attorneys General” 
• “Electoral Rule Changes and Opposition Power in Presidential Regimes” with Manuela Muñoz 
• “The Political Role of Remittances: An Analysis of Electoral Accountability in Latin America” with Manuela Muñoz 
• "Part-Time or Full-Time? State-Level Institutional Choice and Representation" with Spencer Goidel and Thiago M. Q. Moreira 
• “Reformers or Conformers? Institutional-Driven Quality of Women Politicians” 
• “Do women and men pursue different policy once they have a seat in the cabinet? A theory and empirical test of when descriptive representation is associated with substantive representation” with Duncan Christiansen, Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson and Adrián Pignataro 
• “Do Private Prisons Incentivize More Local Punitiveness? The Case of Kentucky Counties” 
• “Turf Wars and Reduced Government Trust: The Effect of Unclear Agency Jurisdictional Boundaries”. 

Conference Papers 

• "Mirroring Gender Gap Attitudes? Latin American Elites and Democratic Transitions" with Duncan Christensen and Manuela Muñoz. Women in Legislative Studies 2024. Madison, WI. (Upcoming) 
• “Electoral Rule Changes and Opposition Power in Presidential Regimes” with Manuela Muñoz. Women in Legislative Studies 2023. Providence, RI.  
• “Part-Time or Full-Time? State-Level Institutional Choice and Representation”. with Spencer Goidel and Thiago M.Q. Moreira. MPSA 2023. Chicago, IL (Withdrawn). 
• “Oversight, Corruption, and Politician Strategies” Women in Legislative Studies 2022. Houston, TX. 
• “Oversight, Corruption, and Politician Strategies” APSA 2022. Montreal, Quebec, CA. 
• “Electoral Rule Changes and Opposition Power in Presidential Regimes” with Manuela Muñoz. APSA 2022. Quebec, Montreal, CA. 
• “Approaching Equality?: Media treatment of male and female members of presidential cabinets in a cross-country comparison,” with Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson. MPSA 2022. Chicago, IL.  
• “Reformers or Conformers? Institutional-Driven Quality of Women Politicians” MPSA 2022. Chicago, IL. 
• “Does Low Turnout Still Advantage Republicans? Reinvestigating the Partisan Effects of Full Turnout” with Spencer Goidel and Thiago M.Q. Moreira. MPSA 2022. Chicago, IL. 
• “Banking on a Woman: Banking Crises and the Selection and Survival of Women Finance Ministers” with Tiffany D. Barnes, Daina Chiba, and Diana Z. O’Brien. APSA 2021. Seattle, WA. 
• “Does Gender Shape Oversight? The Case of the Colombian Congress” APSA 2021. Seattle, WA. 
• “Is Trust Specific or Diffuse? It Depends on the Political Context” with Spencer Goidel and Thiago M.Q. Moreira. SPSA 2021. 
• “Turf Wars and Reduced Government Trust: The Effect of Unclear Agency Jurisdictional Boundaries”. APSA 2020. San Francisco, CA. (Attended virtually) 
• “Approaching Equality?: Media treatment of male and female members of presidential cabinets in a cross-country comparison,” with Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson. (Cancelled). MPSA 2020. Chicago, IL.  
• “Women Finance Ministers in Global Perspective,” with Diana Z. O’Brien and Tiffany D. Barnes. APSA 2019. Washington, D.C. 
• “Is there gender equality in how men and women are evaluated to serve as cabinet ministers? Evidence from parallel experiments in parliamentary and presidential systems,” with Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson and Claire Annesley. ECPG 2019. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 

• TAMU Political Science Department Travel Award: $600 for 2019-2021 period; $1000 for 2022 period 
• 2019 Travel Award from Texas A&M: $750 Award for conference travel from the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies
• Lechner Graduate Grant: $2700 Award 
• Vandenbosch Award Semi-Finalist: Award for Outstanding Seniors in Political Science