Current Projects

Jason's Friendly Thanksgiving - 2001 - present

Since 2001, I host a yearly Thanksgiving for my friends. In addition to being a great time to reconnect and bring people together, I use October to prepare a significant-sized Web site and theme. This effort is an opportunity to learn new skills and try new technical ideas. In the past, I learned CSS, PHP, green screen and video editing, and experimental site designs. The result is an event that those who attend and those who wish they were allowed to attend consider to be impressive.

Relevant Links: Project's page available upon request

GNT LLC - 2010 - present

Round two of starting a company has gained traction, with my first contract signed in Summer 2011. Starting Spring 2012, I move full time to GNT. It has been a great learning process and adventure, and I aim to build it into something significant.

Relevant Links: GNT LLC's Web site

Transaction Costs-based Framework for Understanding Populism - 2011 - present

More information will be posted later, but Dr. Zankina, Dr. Gurov, and I are working on a conference paper that tweaks existing populism research to develop a theoretical framework that better explains participation in and the ebb and flow of populist movements.

Relevant Links: None at this time

Chapter One - 2012 - present

I have started a tax-exempt organization that will use big data to address major health issues from the patient perspective. More details will be provided at launch.

Relevant Links: None at this time

Past Projects

Demolition Derby - Spring 2010 - Summer 2010

After years of hopes and plans, 2010 was the year of the demolition derby. With a donated car, a party bus of supportive friends and family, four corporate partners, a carload of tech, and enough nerves to gun it when forced into a head-on collision, I successfully executed a five-month preparation period and 20 seconds of crashtastic fun. We also raised food and money for two non-profits.

Relevant Links: Jason at the Derby (inactive; archived version available upon request) | Various Write Ups

Green Screening and Video Editing - Fall 2009 - Winter 2009/2010

I explored green screen and video editing techniques. Each video built on the last, exploring a different technique, advance, or idea.

Relevant Links: Videos, equipment, and work-area photos available upon request

Refining and Redefining the Second-Order Election Model: Protest or Pure Preference Voting in Central and Eastern Europe - 2006

Our previous research (Koepke and Ringe 2006) finds the second-order election model, one of the most widely accepted theories of voting, unable to explain voting patterns in Central and Eastern Europe. Possible explanations for the unexpected finding, however, went untested. This paper addresses that shortcoming by theorizing and testing the lack of protest votes against incumbent government parties in second-order CEE elections. One possible reason is the prevalence of sincere voting, where votes are lodged strictly for parties that voters perceive to best represent their ideological and/or ethnically defined interests. In addition, we use recent research on economic voting (Tucker 2006) to reconceptualize and test, on the basis of ideological connections to the political system and (communist) past, what constitutes a protest vote.

Relevant links: Presentation

The Tree Outside My Window - 2006

This is two-phase project with Michael. The first phase is to record a spoken word album; this phase is now complete. The second phase of the project--originally and still named Welcome to Detroit--is to accompany a selection of those poems to music; Ursprung Collective has taken up this project, beginning in 2011.

Relevant links: http://jasonkoepke.com/Projects/MJ | Ursprung Collective

Koepke, Jason R. and Nils Ringe, 2006. The Second-Order Election Model in an Enlarged Europe. European Union Politics 7 (3), 321-346

On 1 May 2004, the European Union (EU) welcomed its new member states from Central and Eastern Europe. This paper considers to what extent one of the most widely tested and supported theories of voting behavior in Western Europe, the second-order election model, applies in the enlarged EU. We test the model using election data from the new member states and find that voters do not cast protest votes against their incumbent national governments in second-order elections, that is, elections where voters believe little to be at stake. This finding contradicts one of the model’s basic propositions and runs counter to the empirical reality in the old member states, with potentially significant implications for inter- and intra-institutional politics in the EU.

Relevent Links: Abstract | Paper | Published Version | Data (xls): EP and Local

Just Turtles - 2005

Three-member band creating some rather depressing, but at times amusing, music. A four-song EP is half finished, with the last two tracks needing to be re-recorded and mixed.

Relevant links: http://jasonkoepke.com/Projects/JustTurtles

Russian and East European Graduate Student Conference, University of Pittsburgh - 2003-2004

Initiated annual graduate student conference, recruited team of co-organizers, and chaired the all-graduate student organizing committee. Our responsibilities included marketing, concept and theme development, catering, housing, and supply procurement. The conference was deemed an unqualified success with more than seventy submissions from across North America and Europe. These submissions were double-blind reviewed and 29 graduate students were invited to present (March 5-6, 2004). The conference has been an annual event ever since and attracts participants from around the world.

European and Eurasian Interest Group, University of Pittsburgh - 2003-2004

Co-founder and President (2003-2004). This graduate student group was established to (1) create a forum where graduate students in all different disciplines, studying all different things, and at all different stages in their education can come to exchange notes, news, and research ideas and (2) to organize and host an annual graduate student conference (see above). The organization, with a changed name, continues to be active.

Janus, University of Maryland - 2000-2001

Co-founder and co-editor of the first undergraduate history research journal at the University of Maryland. We wanted to create an opportunity for undergraduate students to engage in the same types of research and discussions that graduate students and faculty do. Submissions were accepted only from undergraduates and were double-blind reviewed by members of the editorial board. We lobbied and worked with faculty to secure an office, office equipment, and a small budget. Issues were published semesterly. The journal continues off and on with new editorial staff.

Maryland Parliamentary Debate Society, University of Maryland - 1997-2000

Co-founder, Secretary (Spring 1999), and President (Fall 1999) of the first parliamentary debate society/team at University of Maryland, College Park. Responsibilities included recruiting members, developing and securing a budget, and hosting an annual (sometimes semi-annual) two-day tournament with more than 50 participants, plus judges and spectators. Tournaments are held every weekend during the academic year up and down the East Coast. The team, although it started out small, has grown tremendously and been incredibly successful.

Trails from the Past, Paint Branch Elementary School, Prince George's County, Maryland - 1999-2000

Once a week instruction of 6th graders to link and incorporate concepts of history, music, government, and art to ideas of diversity using the students' backgrounds.

One Through Ten - 1998

One Through Ten is an album worked on through most of 1998 by Dave Gibson and myself. Dave rapped and we co-produced the tracks, using what little equipment I had at the time (a laptop, one turntable, tape deck, Radioshack mic, lots of records).

Relevant Links: http://jasonkoepke.com/Projects/GJ