Associate Professor Ariel White

Ariel White

Associate Professor of Political Science

American politics; political behavior; voting; race/ethnicity.

Biography

Ariel White is Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT. She studies voting and voting rights, race, the criminal legal system, and bureaucratic behavior. Her research uses large datasets to measure individual-level experiences, and to shed light on people's everyday interactions with government. Her recent work investigates how potential voters react to experiences with punitive government policies, such as incarceration and immigration enforcement, and how people can make their way back into political life after these experiences. In other projects, she and her co-authors have examined how local election officials treat constituents of different ethnicities, how media shapes public conversations, and whether parties face electoral penalties when nominating minority candidates. Her research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Science, and elsewhere.

Research

Ariel White's research page

Recent Publications

Ariel White's publication page.

News

Where legal, voting by those in prison is rare, study shows

Peter Dizikes MIT News

A new study by MIT scholars, “How Often Do People Vote While Incarcerated? Evidence from Maine and Vermont,” examines the two U.S. states where people can vote even while they are incarcerated.

Exploring the human stories behind the data

Alli Armijo MIT News

Senior Brian Williams has used bioengineering as a launchpad to combat racism in public health — and he doesn’t want to stop there.

Biography

Ariel White is Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT. She studies voting and voting rights, race, the criminal legal system, and bureaucratic behavior. Her research uses large datasets to measure individual-level experiences, and to shed light on people's everyday interactions with government. Her recent work investigates how potential voters react to experiences with punitive government policies, such as incarceration and immigration enforcement, and how people can make their way back into political life after these experiences. In other projects, she and her co-authors have examined how local election officials treat constituents of different ethnicities, how media shapes public conversations, and whether parties face electoral penalties when nominating minority candidates. Her research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Science, and elsewhere.

Research

Ariel White's research page

Recent Publications

Ariel White's publication page.

News

Where legal, voting by those in prison is rare, study shows

Peter Dizikes MIT News

A new study by MIT scholars, “How Often Do People Vote While Incarcerated? Evidence from Maine and Vermont,” examines the two U.S. states where people can vote even while they are incarcerated.

Exploring the human stories behind the data

Alli Armijo MIT News

Senior Brian Williams has used bioengineering as a launchpad to combat racism in public health — and he doesn’t want to stop there.