Aistrup, Joseph

Joe Aistrup is professor of political science and interim associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  He specializes in Kansas politics, public policy and methodology.  Aistrup has published two books. In 2010, he and colleague H. Edward Flentje published "Kansas Politics and Government: The Clash of Political Cultures" (University of Nebraska Press). In 1996, Aistrup published "The Southern Strategy Revisited: Top-Down Republican Party Development in the South" (University Press of Kentucky).

In addition, his work has been published in a number of political science journals, including Social Science Quarterly, Political Research Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Soviet Studies and American Review of Politics, as well as in public policy and analysis journals, including Court Review, Economic Development Review, Economic Development Quarterly, Kansas Government Journal and Kansas Business Review.

Aistrup is currently working on several research projects. One study focuses on the identifying political party alignments and realignment in American states. Another is a National Science Foundation funded study assessing issues of sustainability and the long-term viability of the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. He also is part of a NSF-EPSCOR team from KU and KSU working on how land use and land cover changes in Kansas in the face of climate change and the development of the biofuels industry.