Mark K. Cassell

Mark K. Cassell, Professor of Political Science at Kent State University, teaches public policy and administration courses, European politics, comparative public policy, and urban politics.  Professor Cassell also directs the Washington Program in National Issues (WPNI),  Kent State's internship program in Washington DC, which has given Kent State undergraduates to work in the nation's capital for nearly 50 years. His scholarship is mainly concerned with understanding public sector transformations.

Professor Cassell's scholarship includes a number of books, including his most recent work, Banking on the State: the Political Economy of Public Savings Banks (Columbia University Press/Agenda Publishing. 2020). The book examines how Germany's public savings banks survive and thrive in the too-big-too fail world of global finance.  The book includes a chapter on the United States' efforts at establishing public banking alternatives.  Cassell and his co-author, Susan Hoffmann, published Mission Expansion and the Federal Home Loan Bank System (SUNY Press, 2010).  The book explores the history and development of the Federal Home Loan Bank System.  And finally, Cassell also published the award-winning book, How Governments Privatize: The Politics of Divestment in the United States and Germany (Georgetown University Press, 2003). The book compares the Resolution Trust Corporation with Germany's Treuhandanstalt, the agency charged with taking over, managing, and privatizing the industrial assets of former East Germany.  The book received the 2003 Charles H. Levine Award for the best book in public policy and administration.  The book was also revised and translated into Russia in 2016, Как Правительства Приватизируют: Политика Разоблачения в Соединенных Штатах и Германии (Moscow: Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy). 

In addition to book publications, Professor Cassell has published a number of recent articles on a variety of topics in comparative public policy including: "Urban challenges and the gig economy: How German cities cope with the rise of Airbnb" 2020 German Politics, 29(3) with Michelle Deutsch and "Explaining Germany’s Position on European Banking Union. 2020 German Politics, 28(4):1–21, with Anna Hutcheson.

Dr. Cassell's work also appears in Public Administration Review, German Politics, Journal of Banking Regulation, International Public Management Journal, Social Science Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics,  State and Local Government Review,  and Governance: An International Journal of Policy, Administration and Institutions.  

Dr. Cassell holds a Ph.D. and MA in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MPA from the Robert LaFollette Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a BA in Economics and Politics from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC). Though he's most proud of his accomplishment on the tennis court. He was an NCAA All American in 1986 at UCSC.  Go slugs.

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Books

Banking on the State: the Political Economy of Public Savings Banks (Columbia University Press/Agenda Publishing. 2020).

Mission Expansion and the Federal Home Loan Bank System (SUNY Press, 2010), with Susan Hoffmann.

How Governments Privatize: The Politics of Divestment in the United States and Germany (Georgetown University Press, 2003).

Articles

2020    Urban challenges and the gig economy: How German cities cope with the rise of Airbnb. German Politics, 29(3) with Michelle Deutsch.

2019    Explaining Germany’s Position on European Banking Union. German Politics, 28(4):1–21, with Anna Hutcheson.

2018    When the world helps teach your class: Using Wikipedia to engage students on controversial issues. PS: Political Science and Politics 52(2):1-7.

2016    A Tale of Two Crises: Germany's Landesbanken and the United States’ Savings and Loans. Journal of Banking Regulation,  Vol 17: 73-89.

2014    The Impact of Unionization on University Performance. Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy 6(3), with Odeh Halaseh.

2012    When Smaller Governments Open the Window: A study of website creation, adoption and presence among smaller local governments in northeast Ohio State and Local Government Review 44(2): 91-100, with Sarah Mallaly.

Book Chapters

2019    The Global Economy and the “Great Recession in K. Larres & R. Wittlinger (eds.) Global Politics: Actors and Themes. Understanding International Affairs  (Routledge Press).

2016.  “Germany’s Approach to the Financial Crisis: A Product of Ordo-Liberalism” in: Konrad H. Jarausch/Harald Wenzel/Karin Goihl (eds), Different Germans, Many Germanies. New Transatlantic Perspectives, New York: Bergman.

2010. “Engaging Citizens on the Internet: An Assessment of Local Governments in Ohio,” in Chris Reddick (ed.)Citizens and E-Government: Evaluating Policy and Management. Hershey, PA: IGA Global Publishers, with John Hoornbeek (reprint of the journal article in International Journal of Electronic Government Research on Citizens and E-Government).

2009. “When Local Governments Choose Open Source Technology,” in Chris Reddick (ed.) Strategies for Local E-Government Adoption and Implementation: Comparative Studies. Hershey, PA: IGA Global Publishers.