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David Hughes joined the �鶹AV in the fall of 2024 as an associate professor of political science. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Montevallo in 2011 and his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 2016. His expertise is in the area of American law and courts with a special emphasis on judicial institutions and the separation of powers. Dr. Hughes also has an expertise in the politics of the American South. He has published his work in peer-reviewed outlets such as Political Behavior, the Journal of Law and Courts, and Political Research Quarterly. 

Ph.D. in Political Science, 2016
University of Georgia

B.S. in Political Science and History, 2011
University of Montevallo

• American politics
• Political institutions
• Law and courts
• The separation of powers
• Political communication
• State politics
• Southern politics
• Applied game theory
• Statisticsand data analysis

• Vining, Richard L., Teena Wilhelm, David A. Hughes, and Aidan Gonz`alez. Forthcoming. “Diversity of Judicial Leadership in the American States.” Polity 
• Hughes, David A., Teena Wilhelm, and Xuan Wang. Forthcoming. “Updating PAJID Scores for State Supreme Court Justices (1970-2019).” State Politics & Policy Quarterly.
• Wilhelm, Teena, Richard L. Vining, Jr., and David A. Hughes. 2023. “Chief Justice Selection Rules and Judicial Ideology.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 23(3): 267-82.
• Hughes, David A. 2023. “Local Media Coverage of Candidates for State Supreme Courts.” Justice System Journal, 43(3): 238-59.
• Howard, Nicholas O. and David A. Hughes. 2022. “Revisiting Senatorial Courtesy and the Selection of Judges to the U.S. Courts of Appeals.” Political Research Quarterly, 75(1): 61-75.
• Hughes, David A. 2021. “Judicial Institutions and the Political Economy of Retirements.” Political Behavior, 43: 1–27.
• Hughes, David A. 2020. “Does Local Journalism Stimulate Voter Participation in State Supreme Court Elections?” Journal of Law and Courts, 8(1): 95–126.
• Vining, Richard L. Jr., Teena Wilhelm, and David A. Hughes. 2019. “The Chief Justice as Effective Administrative Leader: The Roles of Policy Scope and Interbranch Relations.” Social Science Quarterly, 100(4): 1358–68.
• Hughes, David A. 2019. “New-Style Campaigns in State Supreme Court Retention Elections.” State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 19(2): 127–54.
• Hughes, David A., Richard L. Vining Jr., and Teena Wilhelm. 2017. “The Politics of the U.S. Federal Judiciary’s Requests for Institutional Reform.” Social Science Quarterly, 98(5): 1277–95.
• Hughes, David A., Teena Wilhelm, and Richard L. Vining Jr. 2015. “Deliberation Rules and Opinion Assignment Procedures in State Supreme Courts: A Replication.” Justice System Journal, 36(4): 395–410.
• Haire, Susan, Barry Edwards, and David A. Hughes. 2013. “The Voting Behavior of President Obama’s Appointees on the U.S. Courts of Appeals.” Judicature, 97(3): 137-143.
• Hughes, David A. Forthcoming. “Decision Making on U.S. State Courts.” In The Research Handbook on Judicial Politics. Edited by Michael P. Fix and Matthew Montgomery. Elgar Publishing.
• Hughes, David A. 2022. “Alabama: Polarized and Uncompetitive.” In The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics, Seventh Edition. Edited by Charles S. Bullock, III and Mark J. Rozell. Rowman and Littlefield: Lanham, Maryland.
• Hughes, David A. 2018. “Alabama: Race, Realignment, and One-Party Politics.” In The New Politics of the Old South: An Introduction to Southern Politics, Sixth Edition. Edited by Charles S. Bullock, III and Mark J. Rozell. Rowman and Littlefield: Lanham, Maryland.
• Hughes, David A. 2022.“US Supreme Court Doctrine in the State High Courts, 2020, Michael P. Fix and Benjamin J. Kassow, New York: Cambridge University Press.” Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 32 (8).
• Hughes, David A. 2019. “Judicial Elections in the 21st Century, 2017, Edited by Chris W. Bonneau and Melinda Gann Hall, New York: Routledge Press.” Law and Politics Book Review, Vol. 29 (3): 31-3.
• Hughes, David A. 2014. “The Behavior of Federal Judges: A Theoretical and Empirical Study of Rational Choice, 2013, Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, and Richard A. Posner, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.” The Journal of Politics, Vol.
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