Department of Political Science

On July 18, 2026, the CENTEX Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) conducted an Awards Luncheon to recognize outstanding scholarship and public service. 

Awards were presented to public administrators from local governments in the area in recognition of their outstanding service to the public. In addition, Master of Public Administration (MPA) students at Texas State University were recognized for their research and scholarship. The featured speakers at the Awards Luncheon included James Earp, the recipient of the William P. Hobby Distinguished Public Service Award, Alan & Sheila Bojorquez, sponsors of the 10 Traits of Good Government Award and representatives from the Cities of Ransom Canyon and Pharr Texas who were the first recipients of the Balanoff Good Government Award.

The James McGrew Research Award for distinguished scholarship was presented to students from Texas State University’s MPA Program including that of Amberlee Adams for their project titled “Describing the Perceptions of Students and Explaining Their Performance After the Prescribed Fire Practitioner/Foundational Firing Operations Course” and Hannah Amaya for their project titled “Gauging Interagency Collaboration in the ‘One County, One Protocol’ Model for School Emergency Management in Hays County, Texas.” Both students were directed by Dr. Nandhini Rangarajan of Texas State’s MPA program. 

Further, 2 Texas State MPA students were recognized as recipients of the Clarence Ridley Texas City Management Association (TCMA) Scholarship, including that of Hannah Kriese and Walker Allee. In addition, 2 MPA students named as Fellows by the International City County Management Association (ICMA) were recognized for their outstanding scholarship. This includes Riyanka Aryal and Joa Brown. 

Students from Texas State University’s MPA Program were recognized for receiving a Francis Rich Family scholarship, including that of Elegy Garcia, Jazmin Guevara, Christina Kattikatt, and Hannah Kriese. Finally, MPA students graduating in the Summer 2026 semester were inducted into Pi Alpha Alpha, the Global Honor Society for Public Affairs and Administration. Inductees included Riyanka Aryal, Savanna Batson, Julia Lynn Hester, Syeda Zareen Jahan, Hannah Kriese, Ishrat Jahan Ritu, Sonia Shahsavari, Kazi Halimatus Sadia, and Becky Vacek-Schmidt. 

Dylann Engle, a student who attended, commented that “the Centex ASPA luncheon is always such a great opportunity for networking between various generations of public servants. It’s a gathering where students, faculty, and local community leaders are able to come together to recognize and support one-another’s accomplishments.” She added, “The bestowing of the first-ever Balanoff Good Government Awards was an absolute highlight of the evening.” 

For additional information about the activities and programs of CENTEX ASPA and the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service please contact Dr. Howard Balanoff at hb02@txstate.edu.

On July 6, 2026, Dr. Paul R. DeHart was interviewed by Jeffery Church of the Political Theory Review, a podcast centered around initiating conversations with scholars of political theory, about his book The Social Contract in Ruins: Natural Law and Government by Consent (University of Missouri Press, 2024). 

The nature of the interview focused on a general overview of DeHart’s publication and a discussion over its key arguments. DeHart and Church focus on the limitations of social contract theory, alongside the role of consent, human equality, regime legitimization, and so on, in light of the work of political thinkers such as Hobbes, Locke, and Rawls. In contrast to social contract theory, he argued, natural law theory provides a better foundation for government by the consent of the governed.

Dr. DeHart is Professor of Political Science at Texas State University, where he has taught since August 2009. He received his Ph.D. from the Department of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. DeHart specializes in the American founding, early modern political theory, the grounds of political authority and obligation, the relationship between religion and political order, and natural law. and constitutional design.  

You can listen to the interview through Podomatic here.

The work of a long-time member of the Department of Political Science, Dr. Don Inbody, was cited by the Supreme Court in its June 29, 2026, opinion in Watson v. Republican National Committee. The case concerned whether federal election-day statutes require absentee ballots to be received by Election Day or merely postmarked by that day.

The court cited Inbody’s book The Soldier Vote: War, Politics, and the Ballot in America (Palgrave McMillain, 2016) to tell the story of how Americans in the armed forces gained the right to vote while away from home. It describes complexities of military voting as well as how politicians of both political parties vociferously resisted this right.

“I was quite surprised to learn that my book had been cited in the Supreme Court’s Watson decision, and even more surprised to see the opinion quoted directly from it,” Inbody said. “It is gratifying ,” he continued, to know that the Court found The Soldier Vote useful enough to cite in such a landmark decision. As a scholar, there is no higher compliment than knowing your research has contributed, even in a small way, to the Court’s understanding of an important constitutional issue.” 

Dr. Donald S. Inbody taught at Texas State from 2008 until his retirement in 2019. A senior lecturer in the department, he served at sea in the United States Navy for 28 years, retiring as a Captain. He holds a PhD in Government from the University of Texas.   

On June 10, 2026, Dr. David A. Levy was appointed as the next Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paralegal Education and Practice (JPEP) by the American Association for Paralegal Education Board of Directors. Formerly a member of the journal’s editorial board, Dr. Levy will assume the duties of Editor-in-Chief beginning with the journal’s next issue, which will be published October 2026.

The JPEP is a peer-reviewed, open-access publication dedicated to advancing the paralegal profession through scholarly research into paralegal education, the profession, and developments in the law regarding paralegals. JPEP bridges paralegal education and professional practice, creating knowledge and fostering dialogue among educators, students, and legal professionals.  

Dr. Levy is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the M.A. Legal Studies program. He has published in the areas of artificial intelligence and legal ethics, as well as comparative law and international commercial law. Dr. Levy’s experience includes working for the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law and the American Society of International Law. He has also held elected office as the County Attorney of Archer County, Texas as well as having served as Mayor of Archer City.

Dr. Will Moravits represented Texas State University at Rodriguez Elementary School’s second annual Career Day. His talk to 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students focused on what a college professor does. Dr. Moravits’s presentation explored how you go about becoming a college professor, what the qualifications were, the means by which prospective students might become a college professor, and the subject matters that college professors can teach. 

Rodriguez Elementary School’s Career Day invites a variety of professionals from a wide array of occupations, including that of public safety, in order to introduce students to the intricacies of today’s labor force in an accessible way. 

Dr. Moravits is a lecturer of political science at Texas State University and has previously taught for Texas A&M University at San Antonio, St. Philip’s College, and Northeast Lakeview College. A former high school teacher, he was also a police officer for the City of San Marcos, Texas, having graduated as the Top Cadet from the 77th Basic Training Academy of the University of Texas at Austin. His publications include The Blue Divide: Policing and Race in America (Houndstooth Publishers, 2022). 

On Monday, May 4, the Department of Political Science hosted a farewell gathering for four faculty members. Drs. Cecilia Castillo, John Burke, Ezekiel Loseke, and Prof. Jordan Villarreal were celebrated for their contributions to the department during their time at Texas State. Faculty, staff, and students attended the sendoff wishing them the best in their future endeavors. 

Dr. Cecilia Castillo has been with TXST since 1991. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Politics and Classics from the University of Dallas. She received her Ph.D. in Politics from the University of Dallas, which she had also attended as an undergraduate. During her time at Texas State, she served as the director of the Master of Arts in Political Science program for two decades, as a member of the Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for 17 years, and as the managing editor of the Catholic Social Science Review for 11 years. 

Dr. John Francis Burke received his received his M.A. and Ph.D. in Government and International Studies from the University of Notre Dame. He had previously taught at TXST in the 1980s. His books include Mestizo Democracy: The Politics of Crossing Borders (Texas A&M Press, 2002), and he has published articles in a wide variety of journals including the Review of Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and the Journal of Peace and Justice Studies. 

Dr. Ezekiel Loseke received his M.A. in Political Science from Texas State University, and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Hillsdale College. During his time at Texas State, he served as the faculty advisor for the Rho Eta Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society; the coordinator for Graduate Instructional Assistants; and book review editor for the Catholic Social Science Review. 

Prof. Jordan Villarreal received his M.A. in Political Science at Texas State University. During his time here, over and above teaching incoming freshman during a time of historically high enrollment levels at the university, he also helped direct the department’s Discourse in Democracy programming and the Poli Sci Inklings talks.  

“We want to thank these faculty members for all they have contributed over the years to the department and university,” stated Department Chair Ken Grasso. “They will be missed.”