Jim Allison

After public schooling in California, Jim received an A.B. at the University of California-Berkeley. Following army service, he earned a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and joined the Indiana University psychology department. For decades Jim earned his living as an experimental psychologist, using inferential statistics to help decide whether there was any significant difference between the behavior of the experimental group and that of the control group. Examples include Behavioral Economics, by James Allison (Praeger, 1983), and “Response-Disequilibrium Therapy: Clinical Case Studies,” by Richard M. McFall, James Allison, Richard J. Viken, and William Timberlake (Clinical Psychological Science, 2019). With his wife, Tomi, he co-wrote The Accidental Mayor, which describes her experience as Bloomington mayor from 1983 to 1995. Jim retired from IU as Professor Emeritus in 1992.

Posts by this contributor 4 results

Looking at the 1803 Supreme Court decision of “Marbury v. Madison” may help Americans grow more sympathetic to notions of judicial reform, writes Jim Allison. Given the unpopularity of recent Supreme Court rulings and questionable behavior by some of its justices, the time seems ripe. | Photo by Attie Heunis

Whereas, Chief Justice John Marshall Declares the Supreme Court Supreme

Jim Allison

A closer look at Marbury v. Madison — the Supreme Court decision that placed the judicial branch of government above Congress — may make Americans more open to judicial reform, writes Jim Allison. Given the unpopularity of recent court rulings and questionable behavior by some of its justices, the time seems ripe for a check on the court. Read the review.

July 2, 2024

By means of partisan gerrymandering, the Indiana legislature has violated the democratic principle of one person, one vote, says retired Indiana University Professor Emeritus Jim Allison. Proportional representation, he says, would help to give Hoosiers “free and fair” elections, as required by the state constitution. | Photo of the Indiana Statehouse via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0; the original uploader was Jasont82 at English Wikipedia.

Indiana Legislature Violates Principle of ‘Free and Equal’ Elections

Jim Allison

Retired IU Professor Emeritus Jim Allison shows how the Indiana legislature, by means of partisan gerrymandering, has violated the democratic principle of one person, one vote. Proportional representation, he says, would help to give Hoosiers “free and fair” elections, as required by the state constitution. This article is part of Limestone Post’s coverage for Democracy Day, a nationwide collaborative. Click here to read more.

September 14, 2022

Sponsorship

The preamble to the Constitution begins “We the People,” but in presidential elections, the founders gave more power to people in less-populous states. | Copyright: klikk / 123RF Stock Photo

Small-State Bias and the Electoral College

Jim Allison

While this election day will be quiet in Monroe County, many people are still actively resisting the “new normal” and changing what they see as wrong in our country. In this article, IU Professor Emeritus James Allison shows why abolishing the Electoral College is the fair thing to do for a democracy. Click here to read the full story.