Research Interests

Political Representation; Democratic Theory; History of Political Thought; Political Theory; Philosophy of Social Science

Biography

Click on this link to view Rehfeld's Convocation address to the incoming class of 2013.

Andrew Rehfeld  (Ph.D. University of Chicago, 2000) is Associate Professor of Political Science and Professor of Law (by courtesy) at Washington University in St. Louis.   He is a fellow in the Center for Political Economy and has held the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in the Study and Practice of Federalism at McGill University.  Rehfeld has been a visiting professor at Libera Universita Internazionale Degli Studi Sociali in Rome, and at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Currently Rehfeld is co-editor (with Jack Knight at Duke) of NOMOS: The Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy.

Rehfeld’s research focuses on contemporary democratic theory with related interests in the history of political thought and the philosophy of the social sciences.  His first book, The Concept of Constituency (Cambridge University Press 2005) provided a conceptual, historical and normative analysis of territorial districting, arguing against geographical representation and in favor of randomized constituencies that would align the electoral incentives of representatives with the good of the whole.  The book was the subject a critical forum in Polity (April 2008).  Rehfeld’s current book project is entitled A General Theory of Political Representation and under contract with Cambridge.  Preliminary chapters from that project have been published in the American Political Science Review and the Journal of Politics.

Rehfeld is also the author of “Offensive Political Theory” (Perspectives on Politics, 2010) in which he argues that much of what is done under the name of "political theory" does not belong in the social sciences and would be strengthened by moving into the humanities, law and public policy.  Elsewhere, Rehfeld published the first article-length treatment of John Locke’s use of the Jephtha story in his Second Treatise of Government, part of Locke's justification of an appeal to heaven in the absence of political authority.  (Hebraic Political Studies, 2008). Other articles and reviews have appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Studies in American Political Development, Ethics, and elsewhere.

Rehfeld also has extensive administrative experience promoting dynamic intellectual community among faculty and students.  In 2002 Rehfeld founded the weekly political theory workshop that he continues to direct.  An unique institution at Washington University, the workshop draws a regular attendance of two-dozen faculty and students among 300 total participants from the humanities, social sciences and law.   From 2007-2010 Rehfeld served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Department of Political Science, shepherding curricular reforms and overseeing the expansion of research opportunities for undergraduates. During that time he lived with his family as a residential faculty fellow in the undergraduate residence halls, implementing innovative educational programing with students.  A recipient of teaching awards from the A&S Council of Wash U and the American Political Science Association, Rehfeld has also served as an elected member of the University's Curriculum Committee and its New Curriculum Review Committee.   Professionally, he has served on the governance committee for the Association for Political Theory and as secretary of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy.

Selected Publications

• 2011.  "The Concepts of Representation," The American Political Science Review. August.
• 2011.  "The Child as Democratic Citizen"  Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.  January.
• 2010.  "Offensive Political Theory,"  Perspectives on Politics.  June.
• 2010.  "On Quotas and Qualifications for Office," in Political Representation (Ian Shapiro, Susan Stokes, Elisabeth Woods, and Alexander Kirschner eds) (New York:  Cambridge University Press)
• 2009.  "Representation Rethought," The American Political Science Review.  May.
• 2008.  "Jephthah, the Hebrew Bible, and John Locke's Second Treatise of Government,"  Hebraic Political Studies.  Winter.
• 2006.  "Towards a General Theory of Political Representation,"  The Journal of Politics  February.
• 2005.  The Concept of Constituency:  Political Representation, Democratic Legitimacy and Institutional Design  (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press)

Awards

• Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in the Theory and Practice of Federalism, McGill University, Montreal.
• 2010 American Political Science Association and PI Sigma Alpha Award for Outstanding Teaching in Political Science
• 2009-2010 Washington University Arts & Sciences Faculty Council Teaching Award

Courses

• Democratic Theory
• Ethics and Politics
• Models of Social Science
• History of Political Thought
• Political Representation
• Republicanism and Citizenship