Rebekah Jones

I'm Rebekah Jones, a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Political Science. My current research agenda investigates the development and consequences of local crime policy in the U.S.  My dissertation project examines how cities embedded in the federated structure of the American political economy prioritize and devise their crime policy agendas to respond to our nation's high levels of lethal violence. More broadly, I'm interested in how the economic incentives of political elites interact with local political institutions to shape how vulnerable populations in the U.S. experience and participate in our democratic system. My work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the American Political Science Association. 

Prior to coming to Berkeley, I received a B.S. from Cornell University in Development Sociology with minors in Crime, Prisons, Education, and Justice (CPE+J), Public Policy, and Law and Society. Outside of academia, I love writing music and connecting with other artists.