
Vitae
Google Scholar Profile
Scholars@TAMU Profile
Dr. Alexander C. Pacek’s main research focus is on the political determinants, and consequences of life satisfaction and happiness in citizens around the world. Much of his earlier work focused on the political economy of voter turnout and electoral choice in the post-communist countries, the developing world, and the advanced industrial democracies.
Dr. Pacek’s current research includes a book and a series of papers on the political determinants and consequences of happiness and life-satisfaction. Ongoing projects include a book on the political consequences of happiness and life satisfaction, and a series of papers on the impact of globalization, labor unions, and the size and quality of government on human happiness and life-satisfaction across the globe. He is also beginning a new project with Benjamin Radcliff (University of Notre Dame) on the politics of happiness in the American states, which involves the development of a new state-level survey data set.
Dr. Pacek teaches undergraduate courses on Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, comparative politics, and American government. He teaches graduate courses on comparative politics and research topics in the post-communist world. He has taught several course for the George Bush School of Government and Public Service on ethnic conflict and nation-building in the former communist world.