Rate My Professor Douglas Hecock

Douglas Hecock is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Bucknell University, where he joined the faculty in 2006. He currently serves as Chair of the Political Science Department and is Affiliated Faculty in Latin American Studies. Hecock earned his Ph.D. in political science and M.A. in Latin American studies from the University of New Mexico. His teaching and research interests encompass comparative politics, Latin America, democratization, and the politics of economic development. He regularly teaches courses including POLS 205: Comparative Politics, POLS 211: Third World Politics, and POLS 219: Latin American Politics.

Hecock's research examines key aspects of political economy in Latin America, particularly foreign direct investment, economic liberalization, democratization, and education reform. His publications include 'Electoral Competition, Globalization, and Subnational Government Spending in Mexico' (2006); 'Running Hot and Cold: Economic Liberalization and Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America by Sector' (2013); 'Should Countries Engage in a Race to the Bottom? The Effect of Social Spending on FDI,' co-authored with Eric M. Jepsen (2013); 'Democratization, Education Reform, and the Mexican Teachers' Union' (2014); and the chapter 'Foreign Direct Investment and Its Politics in Latin America' in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics (2019). He has also published book reviews and contributed to faculty scholarship repositories at Bucknell. Hecock participates in university initiatives such as the Center for Social Science Research and serves on the steering committee of the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy.