Profile

Justin P. DePlato, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science (Social Sciences)
deplato@rmu.edu
412-397-5912 phone (M)
412-397-6044 fax
Wheatley Center 226


Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Political Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2012
  • Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, St John Fisher College, 2002
  • Master of Arts, Political Science, State University of New York at Buffalo, 2006

Professional Background

  • Recipient of the RMU Student Government Association Distinguished Teaching Award (2015-2016)
  • Member of the Northeastern Political Science Association
  • Member of the Pennsylvania Political Science Association

Area of Expertise/Research

  • My expertise and research interests are in the American Presidency, Political Philosophy, Voting Theories and Elections, Democratic Constitutional Theory, and Republican party politics.

Publications

  • The United States Supreme Court and Politics: Judicial Retirements, the Docket, and the Nomination Process (Lexington Books, 2019), pp.xi-83
  • American Presidential Power and the War On Terror: Does the Constitution Matter? (Palgrave MacMillan 2015 pp.xi -135)
  • American Democracy: Founders, Enlightened Philosophers and Presidents (Lexington Books 2015 pp.xi - 638)
  • The Cavalier Presidency: Executive Power and Prerogative in Times of Crisis (Lexington Books 2014 , pp. xi - 215)
  • "Is Polarization a Myth", in Patriot Post July 2018
  • "Disliking US Presidents - The New Normal?" in Penn Live August 2017
  • "Executive Orders Run Wild...Again", The Hill, January 31, 2017
  • "A Call for Secession - From the Left", in the Patriot Post, January 14, 2017
  • "President-Elect Trump: The New Whig President", Values and Vision Institute of Grove City College (December 2016)
  • "Shift in Polling Favors Trump", in Beaver County Times, September 30, 2016
  • "Trump will win the nomination because of Tea Party help", in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (February 23, 2016)
  • "Speaker Boehner's Fall is All About the Tea Party", in Pittsburgh Post Gazette (September 2015)
  • "Reformation in the U.S. House", in Pittsburgh Tribune ( October 2015)

     
  • "Power and Constraint: America's War on Terror", Congress and Presidency Vol. 44, pp. 164-169
  • The Classics and the Founders: Analyzing the Theory of Democracy from Ancient Greece to America's Founding (Cambridge MA: Cognella Academic Press) December 2014
  • A review of "Power and Constraint: America's War on Terror", in Congress and the Presidency, volume 44, pp. 164-169 (2017)

Presentations

  • 2018 - Pennsylvania Political Science Association Annual Meeting (Westchester PA), "The Trump effect on Polling: How more Surprises are coming in 2018 Midterms"
  • 2017 - Pennsylvania Political Science Annual Meeting (Pittsburgh, PA) "The Purging of the Republican Party and the Emergence of Candidate Trump"
  • 2016 - Northeastern Political Science Conference (Boston MA) "The Resurgence of Populist Politics on the Right: Diffusing Liberal Advantages"
  • 2015 - Northeastern Political Science Conference (Philadelphia PA) The Theory of Executive Emergency Power: Competing Thoughts on the Use and Justifications for Use of Extraordinary Power in Liberal Democracies
  • 2015 - Presidential Power Conference - Dordt College (Iowa) "Bush and the War On Terror: Strength and Consensus"
  • 2014 - Northeastern Political Science Conference (Boston MA, November 2014) The Power of Crisis: The Hyper Unitary Presidency of GW Bush