I am an Associate Professor of Politics, specializing in American politics. My research concerns the development of the U.S. Congress, with particular attention to the way members of the House reshaped the institution in order to respond to constituent demand. I am the author of Common Ground: Committee Politics in the U.S. House of Representatives (Stanford University Press, 2006), and my work has appeared in Public Choice, American Politics Research, and Studies in American Political Development. I am currently working on a project tentatively titled The People’s House: Representation and Responsiveness in the Antebellum House of Representatives and have related work underway on the institutional development of the early U.S. House of Representatives, focusing on the behavioral choices and adaptations of rank-and-file legislators in shaping the chamber’s structure.

The courses I teach cover both the study of American political institutions and inquiry into mass political behavior. A full list of my courses is below, and my current courses this semester are to the right.

Prior to coming to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½, I served as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, as well as on the staffs of U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and British Member of Parliament Rhodri Morgan.

My Courses:

• FYS452: Football, Fútbol, Soccer: The Local Politics of a Global Game
• PLTC115: U.S. Political Institutions and Processes
• PLTC211: U.S. Parties and Elections
• PLTC215: Political Participation in the U.S.
• PLTC230: The U.S. Congress
• PLTC310: Public Opinion
• PLTC328: Representation in Theory and Practice
• PLTCs23: Simulating the Legislative Process