Evan Charney, Associate Professor of the Practice and Political Science and Faculty Network Member of Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and Affiliate of the Duke Initiative for Science & Society
Research Interests:Political Analysis, Philosophy and Theory, Genomics Policy
Genetics and political ideology, political psychology, theories of personality, methodology of the social sciences, liberalism, constitutional law, multiculturalism, and nationalism.
E. Charney, Conservatives, liberals, and "the negative": Commentary on John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith, and John R. Alford, "Differences in Negativity Bias Underlie Variations in Political Ideology",
Behavioral and Brain Sciences
(Forthcoming) .
E. Charney, Genetics and the Life Course,
in Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences
(Forthcoming) [abs].
E. Charney, Can Tasks be Inherently Boring? Commentary on Robert Kurzban, Angela Duckworth, Joseph W. Kable, and Justus Myers, “An Opportunity Cost Model of Subjective Effort and Task Performance",
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 36 no. 6
(December, 2013),
pp. 684 [abs].
E. Charney, Behavioural genetics in the postgenomic era,
eLS, John Wiley & Sons
(Forthcoming) [abs].
Charney, E, Cytoplasmic inheritance redux.,
Advances in Child Development and Behavior, vol. 44
(January, 2013),
pp. 225-255 [edit], [doi] [abs].
Charney, E; English, W, Genopolitics and the science of genetics,
American Political Science Review, vol. 107 no. 2
(January, 2013),
pp. 382-395, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [edit], [doi] [abs].
E. Charney, Politics and Biology,
Perspectives on Politics, vol. 11 no. 2
(June, 2013),
pp. 588-61 [edit], [doi] .
E. Charney, Gene Association Studies,
in Biotechnology in Our Lives, edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber
(2013), Skyhorse .
Charney, E, Behavior Genetics and Post Genomics,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol. 35 no. 6
(December, 2012),
pp. 1-80 [open], [doi] [abs].
Charney, E; English, W, Candidate genes and political behavior,
American Political Science Review, vol. 106 no. 1
(February, 2012),
pp. 1-34, Cambridge University Press (CUP) [open], [doi] [abs].
E. Charney, Still Chasing Ghosts: A New Genetic Methodology Will Not Find the “Missing Heritability”,
Independent Science News
(September 19, 2013) [available here] .
Evan Charney’s research currently focuses on genetic explanations of political beliefs as well as other complex human beliefs and attitudes, and the theoretical, normative and political implications of such explanations. This focus is part of a larger interest in the assumptions that underlie conceptions of human nature in the social sciences and the extent to which these reflect culturally specific normative assumptions. These include assumptions in political science, economics, sociology, anthropology and psychology.
In regard to psychology, he is particularly interested in theories of personality and the relationship, if any, between personality and political ideology. He is currently at work on a book dealing with all of these matters, both as they concern research in the social sciences and public policy (as in e.g., personality testing in public schools, the “criminal gene” defense in civil law). Other interests include liberal political theory, ethics and constitutional law (particularly civil rights).
Charney has published articles in The American Political Science Review, Political Theory, and Perspectives on Politics. He also spent a year at the Kennedy School of Government as a Fellow in the Program in Ethics and the Professions, and has received fellowships from the Mellon, Javits and Earhardt Foundations.
