Alex Tuckness

 

Iowa State University

Ames, IA 50010

(515) 294-8910

tuckness@iastate.edu

 

 

Employment

 

Professor, Dept. of Political Science, effective August 16, 2011.

 

Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Iowa State University, 2005-2011.

 

Director of the Public Policy and Administration Program, 2006-2008 and Director of Graduate Education, 2007-2008.

 

Visiting Faculty Fellow in Ethics, Harvard Center for Ethics and the Professions, Harvard University, 2003-2004.

 

Assistant Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Iowa State University, 1999-2005.

 

Education

 

Princeton University, Ph.D. in Politics, 1999.

 

Cambridge University, M.Phil. with Distinction in Political Thought and Intellectual History, 1995. 

 

University of Chicago, A.B. with Honors in Political Science, 1994 (Phi Beta Kappa, 1993).

 

 

Publications

 

Book

 

Locke and the Legislative Point of View: Toleration, Contested Principles and Law. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

 

Refereed Journal Articles

 

“International Justice in Ethical Decision Making: Expanding the Role” Public Integrity, Forthcoming.

 

“John Locke and the Rights of Parents,” Oxford Review of Education, October 2010, pp. 627-638.

 

“Retribution and Restitution in Locke's Theory of Punishment,” Journal of Politics, July 2010, pp. 720-732.

 

“Everybody Does It: An Analysis of a Common Excuse,” Public Integrity, Summer 2010, pp. 261-272.

 

“Punishment, Property, and the Limits of Altruism: Locke’s International Asymmetry,” American Political Science Review, vol. 208, 2008, pp 467-480.

 

“John Locke and Public Administration,” Administration & Society, vol. 40, May 2008, pp. 253 - 270.

 

“Discourses of Resistance: Political Argument in the American Revolution,” Journal of the History of Ideas, October, 2003, pp. 547-564.

 

“Rethinking the Intolerant Locke,” American Journal of Political Science, April 2002, pp. 288-298.

 

“Legislation and Non-neutral Principles: A Lockean Approach,” Journal of Political Philosophy, September 2000, pp. 363-378.

 

“The Coherence of a Mind: John Locke and the Law of Nature,” Journal of the History of Philosophy, January 1999, pp. 73-90.

 

Book Chapters

 

“John Locke’s Theory of Toleration” in Blackwell’s Companion to Locke.  Ed. Matthew Stewart. New York: Blackwell, forthcoming.

 

“Locke’s Main Argument for Toleration,” Nomos (Yearbook of the American Society for Political and Legal Philosophy), vol. 48, 2008, pp. 114-138.

 

“The U.S., the I.C.C., and the Demands of Impartiality” in Bringing Power to Justice, eds. Joanna Harrington, Michael Milde, and Richard Vernon.  McGill/Queens University Press, 2006.

 

Encyclopedia Entries

 

“John Locke’s Political Philosophy,” for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010. (Revised and Expanded).

 

“John Locke’s Political Philosophy,” for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005.

 

Invited Presentations at Major Conferences or Institutions

 

Princeton University:  Panelist at conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of Joseph Raz’s Morality of Freedom, 2006.

 

Harvard University: Panelist at “Equality” conference, 2004.

“The U.S., the International Criminal Court, and the Demands of Impartiality” presented to the Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict Research Group conference on “Bringing Power to Justice,”  2003.

 

Work in Progress

Article:  “Hume, Consent, and the Obligations of International Law” under review Article: “Mercy and Justice in Buddhist, Islamic, and Eastern Orthodox Thought” (with John Michael Parrish)

Book:  The Death of Mercy (with John Michael Parrish)

 

 

Grants and Research Support

 

A New Science of Virtues, 2010-2012. $142, 258. Primary Investigator for project titled “The Virtue of Mercy: Religion, Philosophy, and Politics.”  One of 19 funded projects (out of 700) by the Templeton Foundation via the University of Chicago. 

 

ISU Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities Summer Salary Grant. “Mercy as a Political Virtue in Buddhist, Christian, and Islamic Thought.”   2010. 

 

LAS Grant to convert POLS 579 into an asynchronous distance learning class.  $4000 plus additional funds for technical support. 2009.

 

Faculty Fellow in Ethics at Harvard University’s Center for Ethics and the Professions in 2003-2004.  Award of approximately $30,000 funding academic work at Harvard.

 

Iowa State University Faculty Professional Development Assignment, 2003-2004.  Awarded by Iowa State for the full academic year to support research at Harvard University providing six months salary during academic leave.

 

ISU Miller Teaching Fellowship, 2002-2003.  $8,000 grant for pilot program in which advanced undergraduates lead discussions sections in introductory classes as part of a Capstone Project Course.

 

Iowa State Summer Humanities Grant, 2002.  One month of summer salary was awarded for work on “Partial Justice: The Problem of Punishing War Crimes.”

 

Iowa State Summer Humanities Grant, 2001.  One month of summer salary was awarded for work on normative dimensions of humanitarian intervention.

 

Iowa State Summer Humanities Grant, 2000.  One month of summer salary was awarded to facilitate revision of book manuscript, Locke and the Legislative Point of View.

 

Awards

 

Alumni Junior Faculty Excellence Award, Dept. of Political Science 2005.

 

ISU Foundation Award for Early Achievement in Teaching, 2003.  A university-wide teaching award recognizing overall excellence in teaching and conferring a one-time stipend of $1000. Awarded to two faculty members annually.

 

Selected by ISU Center for Teaching Excellence as a Wakanse Teaching Fellow, 2002.

 

Princeton University Honorific Fellowship, 1998-99. 

 

Harvey Fellowship, 1998.  Supports graduate research by Christians in secular fields.

 

Center for Human Values Graduate Prize Fellowship, 1997-98.

 

 

Conference Papers and Presentations

 

“Justice and Mercy in 17th Century Theology and Politics,” Henry Institute Symposium on Religion and Politics, 2011.

 

“Conceptions of Mercy,” 1st Annual Meeting of Grant Recipients of “A New Science of Virtues,” 2011.

 

“Mercy and Punishment in the Sixteenth Century” (with John Michael Parrish), Southwest Political Science Association, 2011.

 

“Bentham and the Problem with Pardons” (with John Michael Parrish), Western Political Science Association, 2010.

 

“Kant and the Problem with Pardons” (with John Michael Parrish), Western Political Science Association, 2010.

 

“Anselm and the Paradox of Justice” (with John Michael Parrish), American Political Science Association, 2009.

 

“Mercy and Punishment in Augustine’s Political Thought” (with John Michael Parrish), Western Political Science Association, 2009.

 

“Community and Conflict in John Locke’s Theory of Punishment,” Western Political Science Association, 2008.

 

“Everyone Does It: A Normative Analysis for Public Administrators,” American Society for Public Administration, 2007.

 

 “State Consent and the Obligation to Obey International Law,” Midwest Political Science Association, 2005.

 

“Non-ideal Theory and Justice,” Association for Political Theory Conference, 2004.

 

“Pragmatism and Universality in Grotius and Hume,” Midwest Political Science Association, 2004 (informal roundtable presentation).

 

“The International Criminal Court and the Demands of Impartiality,” Midwest Political Science Association, 2003.

 

“Non-intervention in a Non-ideal World,” American Political Science Association Conference, 2002.

 

“Rethinking Toleration and Human Rights,” Midwest Political Science Association, 2002.

 

“Locke and Legislative Consent,” Midwest Political Science Association, 2001.

 

Panel Discussant, “Hobbes,” American Political Science Association, 2000.

 

Panel Discussant, “Political Ethics and the Structure of Political Society,” American Political Science Association, 2000.

 

“The Power of Words and Swords: John Locke and the Law of Opinion,” American Political Science Association Conference, 1999.

 

“Locke, Non-neutral Principles, and the Use of Force,” American Political Science Association Conference, 1998.

 

“Judges in the State of Nature,” Northeast Political Science Association Conference, 1998.

 

Professional Service

 

Section Head at the Midwest Political Science Conference, 2004, “Modern Theorists and Texts.”

 

Panel Chair, “Locke,” Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, 2001.

 

Book Reviewer for:

 

Harvard University Press

Princeton University Press

Oxford University Press

InterVarsity Press

 

Article Reviewer for:

 

American Political Science Review.

American Journal of Political Science

Perspectives on Politics

Political Theory

Canadian Journal of Political Science

Review of Politics

Journal of Politics

History of Political Thought

Political Studies

 

 

Courses Taught 1999-2010

Political Science 230 Introduction to Law and Politics

Political Science 235 Introduction to Ethics and Politics

Political Science 333X Democracy and Diversity in America

Political Science 421 Constitutional Freedoms

Political Science 422 International Law

Political Science 430 Western Political Thought: Plato to Machiavelli

Political Science 431/531 Early Modern Political Thought

Political Science 433 American Political Thought

Political Science 480/580 Ethics and Public Affairs

Political Science 490 (Various topics including Toleration, The Social Contract, Just War, Genocide, Punishment, and Natural Law)

Political Science 495 Senior Project Course

Political Science 569 Foundations of Public Administration

Political Science 571 Organizational Theory in the Public Sector

Political Science 578X Ethics and Public Administration

 

Invited Talks at ISU

 

ISU Lectures Constitution Day Panelist, Torture, Detention, and the Rule of Law, 2009.

 

Institutional Service

 

ISU Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities (Appointed 2010)

MPA Committee (2006-Present)

Political Science Undergraduate Committee (1999-2006, 2009-Present)

Faculty Senate (2008-Present)

Phi Beta Kappa Selection Committee (2010-11)

Faculty Advisor for Salt Company Student Fellowship (2008-Present).

President, ISU Phi Beta Kappa chapter, 2007-8.

Political Science International Relations Search Committee (2008)

Political Science Director of Graduate Education (2007-2008)

Director of the Public Policy and Administration Program, (2006-2008)

Political Science Undergraduate Committee Chair (2005-2006)

LAS Diversity Committee (2005-2006)

Political Science Awards Committee Chair (2004-2005, 2008-2009)

Social Movements Search Committee Chair (2005-2006)

Political Science Comparative Politics Search Committee (1999 and 2003)

Latino Studies/Political Science Search Committee (2003).

Faculty Advisor Political Science Club (2000-2003),

Faculty Advisor Pi Sigma Alpha, National Political Science Honor Society (2000-2003)

Faculty Advisor Mock Trial Team (2001-2003)

Faculty Advisor Truth Bucket (2002-2003)