{"id":8,"date":"2017-03-29T20:10:50","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T20:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jvictor.gmu.edu\/index.php\/home\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T15:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:30:30","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jvictor.schar.gmu.edu\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Professor<\/a>
Jennifer Victor. Photo by Creative Services\/George Mason University<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jennifer Nicoll Victor
\nAssociate Professor
\nSchar School of Policy and Government
\nGeorge Mason University<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Curriculum Vitae<\/a><\/p>\n

Jennifer Nicoll Victor is Associate Professor of Political Science at George Mason University\u2019s Schar School Policy and Government. She studies the U.S. Congress, legislative organization and behavior, social network methods, political parties, campaign finance, and interest groups and lobbying. She is currently writing a book, Social Capitol: How Political Capital Emerges among Legislators in the US House of Representatives<\/em>. She is the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Political Networks<\/em><\/a> (2017). She is the co-author (with Nils Ringe) of Bridging the Information Gap: Legislative Member Organizations in the United States and the European Union<\/em> (U. Michigan Press 2013)<\/a>. Professor Victor has published research in the American Journal of Political Science<\/em>, the British Journal of Political Science<\/em>, American Politics Research<\/em>, Party Politics, Interest Groups & Advocacy, P.S.: Political Science and Politics<\/em>, and elsewhere. The National Capital Political Science Association awarded her the Pi Sigma Alpha Award for Undergraduate Mentorship in 2024. In 2019 she was awarded George Mason University\u2019s Teaching Excellence Award<\/a>. In 2020, Professor Victor wrote a 24-lecture course on “Understanding U.S. Government,”<\/a> which is produced by The Great CoursesTM <\/sup><\/span>and available to the public through a subscription. She was the Faculty Director of the Schar School’s first-year Learning Community, “Democracy Lab” (2022 – 2025).<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor Victor is a co-founding contributor to the political science blog \u201cMischiefs of Faction<\/a>,\u201d and is a contributing writer for GEN by Medium<\/a>. Her public scholarship has also appeared in The New York Times<\/em><\/a>, The Conversation<\/a>, OUP Blog<\/a>, and LSE US Politics<\/a> blog. Professor Victor serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the non-profit, non-partisan OpenSecrets<\/a>, is the past president of the National Capital Area Political Science Association<\/a>, and past Chair of the APSA organized section on Political Networks<\/a>. She served as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress<\/a> from September 2019 to January 2020. In 2005 she served as an American Political Science Association<\/a> Congressional Fellow<\/a> in the office of Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND). From 2003-2012 she was an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. She joined the faculty at George Mason University in 2012. Professor Victor holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (Magna Cum Laude, <\/em>1997), and an M.A. (1999) and Ph.D. (2003) in Political Science from Washington University in St. Louis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Areas of Research<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n