Deborah Norden has been a member of Whittier College’s Department of Political Science since 2000, after earning her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Norden’s prior teaching appointments include Colby College (Maine) and the University of California, Riverside.
At Whittier, Norden teaches courses on Latin American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Political Violence. Her research has focused on civil-military relations, democratization, and contentious politics in Latin America, particularly in Argentina and Venezuela. Her work has explored various themes, including the causes of civilian and military challenges to democratic regimes in Latin America and government responses to these challenges; military roles in internal security; and Venezuela’s shift to authoritarianism. Her current research interests include coup-proofing, in particular, in relationship to “self-coups.” An underlying theme in Norden’s teaching, research, and leadership interests involves how the rules and organization of institutions — of all kinds — shape both their potential and their risks.
Norden has served as Chair of the Faculty since May 2022. Prior leadership roles include Chair of the Department of Political Science, Chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee, and Chair of the Transfer Student Assessment Project. She has also been a member of a number of significant Whittier College committees, including the Faculty Personnel Committee, Enrollment and Student Affairs Committee, the Committee for the Future of the Liberal Arts, and the Educational Policy Committee, as well as Search Committees for the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the President, and, of course, for multiple faculty positions.
As Faculty Chair, she seeks to develop strong consensus-based teamwork within the Faculty Executive Council (FEC) and to encourage open communications between FEC and the faculty so that FEC can hear and, as much as possible, respond to the full diversity of faculty perspectives and concerns. Her primary objectives in this position are to facilitate the excellent work of Whittier’s faculty, to improve collaboration between the faculty and the administration, and to build stronger and more effective systems of shared governance.