While biographical sketches of many publicly elected leaders in the US exist, little is known about the connection between serving in college student government and running for or serving in elected public office after college. This phenomenological study explored the experiences of 19 former college student government officers in elected,…

Student leadership is often misconceptualized as merely a pedagogical exercise revolving around simulated political arenas with little to no immediate real political consequence. Other scholarship normalizes students as political outsiders who have to resort to dangerous, exhausting activism tactics for even minute advocacy victories due to their…

Recent studies on student politics and governance have shown that electoral clientelism (EC) in university student elections is often facilitated by clientelist relations between student leaders and political parties. However, there is a dearth of empirical research investigating the various forms of electoral clientelism, as manifested through…

In this critical discourse analysis, we examined 18 college student government campaign platforms from 9 institutions in the state of Florida. We used neoliberalism as a conceptual framework to examine platforms and, in particular, the way(s) students running for office described neoliberal agendas, policies, and thought. Findings revealed concern…