Nisha Bellinger

Nisha Bellinger is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the School of Public Service at Boise State University. She serves as Program Lead for the Global Studies Program and Director of the MA Political Science Program. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at Boise State University (2017-2021) and Montana State University-Billings (2013-2017).

Dr. Bellinger earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri in 2012, with primary field in Comparative Politics and secondary field in International Relations. Her dissertation focused on "The Political Economy of Human Well-Being." She also holds an M.A. in International Relations from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India, and a B.A. in Political Science (with Honors) from St. Xavier's College, University of Mumbai.

Dr. Bellinger's research focuses on political economic themes, particularly exploring the causes and consequences of human well-being outcomes with emphasis on developing countries. Her work examines how political institutions, governance structures, and economic policies affect human development indicators. She has published extensively on democracy and well-being, decentralization and health outcomes, oil politics and development, and the relationship between political parties and foreign direct investment in developing nations.

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward examining subnational political dynamics, particularly in India, alongside broader comparative studies of developing countries. Her work increasingly integrates public health outcomes with political economy frameworks, showing how political institutions affect infant mortality, health care access, and overall well-being.

• Commitment to Leadership Award 2021-2022
• SPS Faculty Fellow
• BUILD Certificate
• SPS Small Research Grant (multiple years)
• Commitment to Research Award 2018-2019
• Best Paper Award at the 2014 Association for Marketing & Health Care Research Conference

As an advisor, Dr. Bellinger has supervised numerous Master's theses and served on doctoral committees. She has been actively involved in program leadership as Program Lead for Global Studies and Director of the MA Political Science Program. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on Comparative Politics, International Political Economy, The Politics of Inequality, and Oil, Development and Democracy. She co-hosts "The Big Tent" on Radio Boise and contributes to public discourse through The Washington Post's Monkey Cage and The Conversation.

Dr. Bellinger is multilingual with native fluency in Bengali and Hindi and professional fluency in English. She serves as a referee for numerous political science journals and holds leadership roles in academic associations including the Midwest Political Science Association.