Karen Alter

Karen J. Alter is Professor of Political Science and Law at Northwestern University and an associate scholar at the Center for Law and Globalization at the American Bar Foundation; she holds a courtesy appointment at Northwestern University Law School. Alter’s research focuses on the interaction between international organizations and domestic politics, employing historical institutionalist approaches to global judicial politics in Europe, Latin America and Africa. She is author of The European Court’s Political Power: Essays on the Influence of the European Court of Justice on European Politics (Oxford, 2009) and Establishing the Supremacy of European Law: The Making of an International Rule of Law in Europe (Oxford, 2001) and has published articles in International Organization, Comparative Political Studies, American Journal of International Law, International Affairs, European Journal of International Relations, European Union Politics, Law and Contemporary Problems, European Law Review, and European Journal of Public Policy. Fluent in Italian, French, and German, Alter’s research has been supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Howard Foundation, German Marshall Fund, DAAD, and Bourse Chateaubriand Scientifique. Alter is member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations, is a founding member of the editorial board of European Union Politics, currently serves on the editorial board of Law and Social Inquiry, and is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook on International Adjudication.