Yamil Ricardo Velez

yamil.velez@stonybrook.edu
Doctoral Candidate, ABD
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY
EDUCATION Ph.D., Expected May 2015, Political Science
Stony Brook University
Concentrations: American Politics, Political Psychology, and Methodology
M.A., 2012, Political Science
Stony Brook University
B.A., 2010, Political Science and Psychology
Florida State University
INTERESTS Intergroup Relations, Immigration Attitudes, Public Opinion, Political Methodology,
and Political Psychology
THESIS Fight or Flight: Mobility, Political Action, and Nativism
In recent decades, communities across the United States have seen increases in anti-
immigration sentiment and ordinances directed toward immigrant groups. Prevailing
theories in political science hold that political responses to immigration are, in part, a
function of local area demographics, such that exposure to local immigrant populations
increases opposition to immigration among native residents. Empirical assessments of
these theories, however, suer from the critique that demographic composition and
preferences may be endogenous due to residential self-selection. Recent eorts in the
literature attempt to sidestep the problem of self-selection by using clever modeling
strategies, theoretical arguments, or experiments. Rather than viewing self-selection
as a nuisance, however, this dissertation develops and tests a theory that treats both
migration and political action as strategies natives invoke in response to local inuxes
of immigrants. A novel simulation technique is developed to assess the importance
of mobility in predicting political action, and analyses using survey and experimental
data corroborate theoretical expectations. Mobility costs are shown to aect local
political responses to immigration, even after accounting for the impact of local area
demographics.
ARTICLES Johnston, Christopher, Newman, Benjamin, and Yamil R. Velez. 2014. Ethnic
Change, Personality, and Polarization over Immigration in the American Public. Pub-
lic Opinion Quarterly (Forthcoming).
Newman, Benjamin and Yamil R. Velez. 2014. Group Size vs. Change? Assessing
Americans Perception of Local Immigration. Political Research Quarterly 67(2):293-
303.
Newman, Benjamin, Yamil R. Velez, Todd Hartman, and Alexa Bankert. 2013. Are
Citizens Receiving the Treatment? Assessing a Key Link in Contextual Theories of
Public Opinion and Political Behavior. Political Psychology (Forthcoming).
Velez, Yamil R. and David Martin. 2013. Sandy the Rainmaker: The Electoral Impact
of a Superstorm. PS: Political Science & Politics 46(2):313-23.
Norpoth, Helmut, and Yamil R. Velez. 2012. Independent Leaners: Ideals, Myths,
and Reality. The Forum 10(3):1-20.
UNDER
REVIEW
Velez, Yamil and Howard Lavine. 2014. Racial Diversity, Causal Order, and the
Dynamics of Authoritarianism. Under Review at the American Journal of Political
Science.
Newman, Benjamin, Pearson, Shanna, and Yamil R. Velez. 2014. Diversication
of a Dierent Kind: Gentrication and Its Impact on Social Capital and Political
Engagement in Black Communities. Under Review at Journal of Politics.
WORKING
PAPERS
Velez, Yamil R. Nativism, Political Action, and Mobility Constraints.
Barabas, Jason, Clark, Rachel, and Yamil R. Velez. Augmented Experiments: Em-
ploying Population Data for Increased Power.
Velez, Yamil R. Partial Compliance in Political Science Experiments.
Velez, Yamil R. and Benjamin Newman. Hispanic Media and Political Participation.
Newman, Benjamin and Yamil R. Velez. Gentrication: A Multi-City View.
TEACHING
EXPERIENCE
PhD-Level Courses
Instructor
POL602 (Introduction to Probability Theory and Statistics)
Teaching Assistant
POL602 (Introduction to Probability Theory and Statistics)
POL603 (Regression Analysis)
AWARDS AND
FELLOWSHIPS
Milton Lodge Award for Graduate Student with Outstanding Potential (2014)
W. Burghardt Turner Fellowship (2010-Current)
Departmental Teaching and Research Fellowship (2010-Current)
NSF Travel Award for Society of Political Methodologys Summer Meeting (2013)
NSF Travel Award for Society of Political Methodologys Summer Meeting (2014)
ADDITIONAL
TRAINING
Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models (EITM)
Description: 2013 Summer Research Institute at UC Berkeley headed by Sean Gailmard
CONFERENCE
PAPERS
Society for Political Methodology Summer Meeting, 2014
Velez, Yamil R. The Promise of Empirically-Grounded Agent-Based Models: An Ap-
plication to Immigration Politics.
International Society of Political Psychology Meeting, 2014
Velez, Yamil R. A Model of Nativism.
Annual Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, 2014
Barabas, Jason, Clark, Rachel, and Yamil R. Velez. Augmented Experiments: Em-
ploying Population Data for Increased Power.
American Political Science Association Meeting, 2013
Velez, Yamil R. There Goes The Neighborhood: An Agent-Based Model of Nativism.
Society for Political Methodology Summer Meeting, 2013
Velez, Yamil R. Bringing Agents to Life: The Promise of Empirically-Grounded Agent-
Based Models.
Annual Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, 2013
Velez, Yamil R., and Joshua Johnson. The Politics of Border Security.
Velez, Yamil R. Fight or Flight: An Agent-Based Model of Nativism.
Velez, Yamil R., Benjamin Woodson, and Milton Lodge. The Architecture of Ideol-
ogy.
Annual American Political Science Association, 2012 Meeting
Velez, Yamil R., and Joshua Johnson. The Politics of Border Security.
Velez, Yamil R., and Michael Bednarczuk. Tweeting the Election.
Annual Midwest Political Science Association Meeting, 2012
Velez, Yamil R., and Howard Lavine. Examining the Relationship Between Proximal
and Distal Context.
Velez, Yamil R., and Milton Lodge. Anti-Authoritarianism and Threat.
Annual Southern Political Science Association Meeting, 2011
Velez, Yamil R., and Raynee Gutting. Anti-Authoritarianism and Threat.
REFERENCES Stanley Feldman
Department of Political Science
Stony Brook University
Social and Behavioral Sciences Building
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4392
631-632-9761
stanley.feldman@stonybrook.edu
Jason Barabas
Department of Political Science
Stony Brook University
Social and Behavioral Sciences Building
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4392
631-632-4304
jason.barabas@stonybrook.edu
Matthew Lebo
Department of Political Science
Social and Behavioral Sciences Building 719
Stony Brook, NY 11794
631-632-7554
matthew.lebo@stonybrook.edu
Howard Lavine
Department of Political Science
University of Minnesota
Political Science 1414 Social Science Building 267 19th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612-624-4144
lavine@umn.edu