Our Team
The Chicago Democracy Project at Northwestern University Political Science is made up of faculty and students with a passion for big-city politics, urban affairs, and all that goes into it.
Jaime Dominguez
Jaime Dominguez is the founder and Co-Director of the CDP and Senior Lecturer in Political Science. The originator of the CDP, Co-Director of the remix, he is also affiliated with the American Politics Workshop and the Latinx Studies Program at NU. He also directs the WCAS Posner Undergraduate Research Program.
Professor Thomas Ogorzalek
Thomas Ogorzalek is Co-Director of the CDP. A scholar of all things related to the well-being of big cities and their residents, his research focuses on urban politics, the politics of race and ethnicity, and the history of American politics. He is the author of The Cities on the Hill: How Urban Institutions Transformed American Politics (Oxford University Press) and “Close To Home: Place-Based Mobilization in Racialized Contexts” (American Political Science Review).
Graduate Affiliates
Kumar Ramanathan
Kumar is a PhD student in Political Science at Northwestern University. His research explores how the politics of public policy shape racial and gender inequalities, focusing mainly on civil rights and social policy in the United States. He also conducts research on urban politics and Asian American politics. He is interested in finding new ways to connect academic scholarship to public debates about law and policy.
Undergraduate Researchers
Mitch Price
Majors: Political Science (Weinberg) and Industrial Engineering (McCormick) Hometown: Cinncinatti, Ohio
Summer Work: I’ve mostly been working on Professor Ogorzalek’s immigration project that’s trying to figure out how demographic change within congressional districts affects attitudes of representatives and what policies are being voted on in Congress.
Fun Fact: I’m obsessed with Reality TV, particularly Big Brother.
Contact: mitchellprice2020@u.northwestern.edu
Katherine Conte
Majors: Political Science and Statistics (Weinberg)
Hometown: Pasadena, California
Summer Work: In the early summer I was doing a lot of data collection– the majority of the data is focused on local elections in the broader Chicago area. My recent work has been focused on redesigning the website.
Fun Fact: I’m uber-good at juggling.
Jacob Wu
Majors: Political Science (Weinberg) and Social Policy (SESP)
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Summer Work: This summer I was a Posner Fellow researching presidential rhetoric on racial minorities under Professor Tillery
Fun Fact: I love plain Cheerios.
Contact: jacobwu2021@u.northwestern.edu
Hadi Shiraz
Majors: Political Science
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Summer Work:
Fun Fact:
Contact: hadishiraz2021@u.northwestern.edu
Past Team
Cory Colbert was webmaster and a research assistant at the CDP from 20XX-20XX. Cory graduated Northwestern in 20XX with majors in both Political Science and Computer Science. He is originally from Chicagoland.
Alonzo Diaz was a Farrell Fellow and research assistant at the CDP from 20XX. Alonso graduated in 20XX studying Economics and Political Science. Born and raised in Chicago, he is always seeking to learn more about the nuances of local politics.
Greg Leung was a research assistant at the CDP from 20XX and graduated from NU in 20XX with a major in Computer Science.
Ben Weinberg studied Political Science at Northwestern University. In addition to politics, Ben also studied film at Northwestern and graduated with a minor in Film & Media Studies and a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications from the Medill School of Journalism. Ben is from Dallas, Texas.
Where our student researchers are from
