Dr. George Lovell

Biography

George Lovell is a Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1997 and joined the faculty at UW in 2001. His research focuses on legal processes, political institutions, American political development, and constitutional theory. Lovell's work examines how law shapes participation in political processes, the political sources of judicial power, and the role of law in labor unions and social justice organizations. He is the author of 'Civil Rights' (University of Chicago Press, 2012), which explores public understandings of rights and the civil rights practices of the Justice Department in the 1940s. Additionally, his book 'Legislative Deferrals' (Cambridge University Press, 2003) challenges conventional views of democratic control over judicial power. He co-authored 'Union Law: Filipino Labor Activists, Rights Radicalism, and Racial Capitalism' (University of Chicago Press, 2020) with Michael McCann. Lovell has published numerous articles regarding legal claims in political encounters, 19th-century state labor legislation, and the progressive era decisions of the Supreme Court. He has served as Divisional Dean of the Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences from 2017 to 2022 and was the chair of Political Science from 2014 to 2017. Additionally, he held the Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies and served as Director of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies from 2011 to 2014. Lovell teaches courses on American constitutional law, the U.S. Supreme Court, law and politics, social change, and labor studies.

Research Interests

Courses