Professors to share research "cost" of U.S. Ambassadorial appointments.

Ambassador Dennis Jett (retired) and Johannes Fedderke, both professors of international affairs at Penn State, explain their research on the politics of U.S. Ambassadorial postings in a new video. Jett, who has extensive foreign service experience, teamed up with Fedderke, a leading political economist, to study the geography of political appointees. (They explain that about 30 percent of U.S. ambassadors are political appointees; the other 70 percent are career diplomats.) The pair studied how campaign contributions influence political appointee postings. Next, they will examine performance measurement data and administrations prior to the current presidency.

To read the working paper, click here.