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Vita

Ph.D. Political Science, Indiana University, 1989
American Politics, Southern Politics, Public Policy, State and Local Government, and Research Methods

Joe Aistrup is professor of political science and interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  He specializes in Kansas politics, public policy and methodology.  Aistrup has published two books. In 2010, he and colleague H. Edward Flentje published "Kansas Politics and Government: The Clash of Political Cultures" (University of Nebraska Press). In 1996, Aistrup published "The Southern Strategy Revisited: Top-Down Republican Party Development in the South" (University Press of Kentucky).
 

In addition, his work has been published in a number of political science journals, including Social Science Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Soviet Studies and American Review of Politics, as well as in public policy and analysis journals, including Court Review, Economic Development Review, Economic Development Quarterly, Kansas Government Journal and Kansas Business Review.
 

Aistrup is currently working on several research projects. One study focuses on the identifying political party alignments and realignment in American states. Another is a National Science Foundation funded study assessing issues of sustainability and the long-term viability of the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. He also is part of a NSF-EPSCOR team from KU and KSU working on how land use and land cover changes in Kansas in the face of climate change and the development of the biofuels industry.  
 

Aistrup has been honored with several professional awards and nominations. He received two best class awards in 2000 for the "Northwest Missouri Regional Labor Availability Analysis," presented by the American Economic Development Council, in Dallas, Texas, and in 1997, he was nominated for the V.O. Key award for the best book on Southern politics for his book "The Southern Strategy Revisited."
 

Aistrup teaches courses in U.S. government, state and local politics, elections and political parties, public policy analysis, and research methods. He joined K-State in 2002, serving as head of K-State's department of political science from 2002-09. Prior to joining K-State, he was director, from 1999 to 2002, and the assistant director, from 1993-99, of the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University. He also was an assistant professor of political science at Virginia Tech from 1988-1992.
 

Aistrup comments regularly about Kansas politics for print and electronic media, and he is one of five editorial writers for "Insight Kansas," a syndicate focusing on analyzing Kansas politics and government. Originally from Winfield, Kan., Aistrup earned a bachelor's degree from Fort Hays State University, a master's from Virginia Tech, and a doctorate from Indiana University.
 

Aistrup can be reached at 785-532-6900 or jaistrup@k-state.edu.