Elsa Chen
Position: Assistant Professor
Office: A&S 239
Phone: 408-551-7055
E-mail: echen@scu.edu
Fall Quarter Office Hours: On sabbatical
Education: Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 2000; M.P.P., Harvard University, 1993; A.B. Princeton University, 1991
Curriculum Vita: Elsa Chen (updated 07/2008)
Research Guides for Dr. Chen's Classes:
Elsa Chen teaches American Politics and Public Policy and is the Director of the Program in Public Sector Studies. Her current research focuses on criminal justice sentencing policy, including racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes and the effects of mandatory minimum sentencing policies such as California's "Three Strikes and You're Out" law. She has also published work on the impacts of the internet and e-mail on communication among public officials and members of the public. Before coming to SCU, Prof. Chen worked as a policy analyst in the criminal justice program at RAND.
Prof. Chen oversees the Washington Semester Program and is the faculty advisor for the Campus Democrats and the Campus Republicans.
Courses
- Introduction to American Politics
- Seminar in U.S. Politics
- Making Public Policy
- Special Topics in Public Policy
- Public Sector Internship
Selected publications
Chen, Elsa Y. "Impacts of 'Three Strikes and You're Out' on Crime Trends in California and throughout the United States." Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Volume 24, Number 4 (November 2008), p. 345-370.
Chen, Elsa Y. “The Liberation Hypothesis and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Application of California’s Three Strikes Law.” Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice Volume 6, Number 2 (Fall 2008), p.251-274.
Chen, Elsa Y. “Victim and Witness Intimidation.” Encyclopedia of Race and Crime. Editors Helen Taylor Greene and Shaun L. Gabbidon. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications (forthcoming 2009).
Chen, Elsa Y. “Cumulative Disadvantage and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in California Felony Sentencing.” Invited chapter in Racial and Ethnic Politics in California, Vol. Three. Editors Bruce Cain, Jaime Regalado, and Sandra Bass. Berkeley, CA: Institute of Governmental Studies Press (2008), p. 251-274.
Chen, Elsa Y. Book Review of Unjust Sentencing and the California Three Strikes Law (2005) by Douglas W. Kieso, forthcoming in Criminal Justice Review vol. 32, no. 4 (December 2007).
Chen, Elsa Y. “E-mail Concerns and Obstacles for Local Elected Officials.” Journal of E-Government, Volume 3, Number 3 (December 2006), p. 91-106.
Chen, Elsa Y. “Virtual Representatives: Local Elected Officials Online.” Journal of E-Government Volume 2, Volume 1 (November 2005), p. 55-78.
Chen, Elsa Y. “You've Got Politics!” STS Nexus Volume 4, Volume 2 (Spring 2004), p. 6-12.
Turner, Susan, Terry Fain, Peter W. Greenwood, Elsa Y. Chen, and James Chiesa. National Evaluation of the Violent Offender Incarceration / Truth-in-Sentencing Incentive Grant Program, September 2001. RAND Report # DRU-2634-NIJ. Prepared for the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.
Turner, Susan, Terry Fain, Peter W. Greenwood, and Elsa Y. Chen. “The Impact of ‘Truth-in-Sentencing’ and Three-Strikes Legislation on Prison Populations, State Budgets, and Crime Rates,” Stanford Law and Policy Review 11:1, Winter 1999.
Peter W. Greenwood, Susan S. Everingham, Elsa Y. Chen, Allan F. Abrahamse, Nancy Merritt, and James Chiesa. Three Strikes Revisited: An Early Assessment of Implementation and Effects, April 2000. RAND Report # DRR-1905-NIJ. Prepared for the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.
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