Meg Bergin Rincker, Ph.D.

Professor of Political Science

Introduction

Meg Rincker is a professor of political science at PNW. She is a faculty co-sponsor of Pi Sigma Alpha, the Political Science club, for Model United Nations and Model Illinois Government team at PNW.

Research Overview

Rincker has written many articles on gender and political ambition, qualitative research methods, gender and candidate quotas, health policy, and the effect of family ties on running for executive office. Her book on women’s representation and decentralization included original fieldwork and interviews with politicians and women’s organization leaders in the United Kingdom, Poland and Pakistan.

My mission is to increase my students' political knowledge, efficacy, voice and self-expression so that they develop critical research, written and speaking skills that employers value.

Select Publications

Blood is Thicker than Water: Family Ties to Political Power Worldwide. Historical Social Research. 2018. Vol. 43 (4): 54-72.

Empowered by Design: Decentralization and the Gender Policy Trifecta (Temple University Press 2017).

Rowberg, Kathryn and Rincker, Meg. 2019. Environmental Sustainability at the Olympic Games: Comparing Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Games. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 8(4), 121. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2019.v8n4p121

Teaching Focus

• International Relations
• Model United Nations
• Gender and Politics
• Politics of the Olympics
• Public Policy

Previous Roles

Rincker held a Dunn Fellowship in the Illinois Governor’s Office for a year after finishing undergrad. After graduate school, she taught at Illinois Wesleyan University (2006-2008). She served as Faculty Advisor for Student Government Association at PNW.

Additional Quote

My courses feature experiential learning: learning by doing and going places outside of PNW. Students learn parliamentary procedure, research policy issues and play assigned roles at conferences that gather students from all over the USA to debate and pass legislation. I lead PNW students from all different majors each Fall to the American Model United Nations conference in Chicago and each Spring to the Model Illinois Government conference in Springfield.