Associate Professor
Office: PGH 431
Email: abadas@uh.edu
Website: www.alexbadas.com
Twitter: BadasTweets
Download CV

Research Interests

• American Politics 
• Judicial Politics
• The Supreme Court
• Empirical Legal Studies

Biographical Summary

Alex Badas is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston and a faculty affiliate with the University of Houston Law Center. He joined the department in the fall of 2018. His research expertise is in the field of judicial politics and covers many topics including judicial decision-making, public attitudes towards judicial institutions, and representation within the judiciary. He teaches courses on Judicial Behavior and Constitutional Law.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Badas, Alex and Eric R. Schmidt. 2025. "Social Imagery and Subjective Ideological Proximity to the Supreme Court: Evidence from Evangelical Christians." Political Research Quarterly.

Badas, Alex. 2024. “Measuring Ideological Polarization on the Circuit Courts of Appeals 1953-2022.” Journal of Law and Courts.

Badas, Alex, Bailey K. Sanders, and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2024. "The Role of Judge Gender and Ideology in Hiring Female Law Clerks." Journal of Law and Courts.

Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2024. "Legislative Diversity and the Rise of Women Judicial Nominees." Politics, Groups, and Identities. 

Badas, Alex and Eric R. Schmidt. 2024. “Social Imagery and Judicial Legitimacy: Evidence from Evangelical Christians.” Political Research Quarterly. 77(1) 137-151.

Badas, Alex and Billy Justus. 2024. "Millionaire Justices and Attitudes towards the Supreme Court." Political Behavior. 46 1985-2004.

Artabe, Eugenia and Alex Badas. 2023. "Measuring the Countermajoritarian Nature of Supreme Court Decisions." The Journal of Legal Studies. 50(2) 345-375.

Badas, Alex and Billy Justus. 2023. "Media Attention and Deliberation on the Supreme Court." Political Research Quarterly. 76(2) 757-769. 

Badas, Alex. 2023. "Motivated Reasoning and Attitudes Towards Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings: Evidence from Five Nominations and an Experiment." Political Research Quarterly. 76(2) 540-552.

Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2023. "Descriptive Representation, Judicial Nominations, and Perceptions of Presidential Accomplishment." Representation. 59(2) 249-270. 

Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2023. "Gender and Ambition among Potential Law Clerks." Journal of Law and Courts. 11(1) 116-140.

• Received an honorable mention for the Best Conference Paper Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.

Badas, Alex, Billy Justus, and Siyu Li. 2022. "Assessing the Influence of Supreme Court's Shadow Docket in the Judicial Hierarchy." Justice System Journal. 43(4) 609-622.

Badas, Alex and Elizabeth N. Simas. 2022. "The Supreme Court as an Electoral Issue: Evidence from Three Studies." Political Science Research and Methods. 10(1) 49-67.

• Received the Best Journal Article Award from the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association.

Badas, Alex. 2021. "The Chief Justice and Judicial Legitimacy: Evidence from the Influence of Public Opinion." Justice System Journal. 42(2) 150-163. 

Badas, Alex. 2020. "Elevation Potential Among Circuit Court Nominees and Its Effect on the Senate's Confirmation Behavior." Political Research Quarterly 73(1) 96-110. 
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Badas, Alex. 2019. "Policy Disagreement and Judicial Legitimacy: Evidence from the 1937 Court Packing Plan." The Journal of Legal Studies 42(2) 377-408.

Badas, Alex. 2019. "The Applied Legitimacy Index: A New Approach to Measuring Judicial Legitimacy." Social Science Quarterly 100(5) 1848-1861.

Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2019. "Voting for Women in Nonpartisan and Partisan Elections." Electoral Studies 57 245-255.  

Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2019. "Michelle Obama as a Political Symbol: Race, Gender and Public Opinion towards the First Lady." Politics & Gender 15(3) 431-459.
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Badas, Alex and Katelyn E. Stauffer. 2018. "Someone Like Me: Descriptive Representation and Support for Supreme Court Nominees." Political Research Quarterly 71(4) 127–142. 
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​Badas, Alex. 2016. "The Public's Motivated Response to Supreme Court Decision-Making." Justice System Journal 37(4) 318-330.