"Private Interests in American Public Institutions" Much of my current research, including my dissertation, focuses on the role played by public officials' private financial and investment choices in their policy decisions. For instance, I consider whether and by what means bureaucrats and judges make regulatory and adjudicatory decisions based on the extent to Read more…

Terrorism, Gender, and the 2016 Presidential Election Jennifer Merolla, Professor, Political Science, University of California, Riverside, received her PhD in Political Science from Duke University, 2003. Prior to joining the University of California, Riverside, she served as Assistant Professor (2003-2009) and then Associate Professor of Political Science (2009-2015) at Claremont Graduate Read more…

"Inside the Oval Office: Where Presidents Discipline the Presidency" Time-management poses a defining challenge of the modern presidency, which is why “scheduling” gets vetted carefully, decided systematically, and implemented fastidiously. While countless profiles and memoirs detail each president’s “behind-the-scenes” work habits, systematic evidence and analysis remain thin. Here, I offer Read more…

                                                   Graeme Boushey, Associate Professor, UC Irvine   "The Gift of Gridlock: Divided Government, Bureaucratic Autonomy, and the Politics of Rulemaking in the American States" Scholars Read more…

About the Talk: Legislators as Lobbyists Policy is produced by elected and unelected officials and through the interactions of branches of government. We consider how such interactions affect policy outcomes and representation. We argue that legislators try to influence bureaucratic decisions through direct communication with federal agencies, and that such Read more…

Life, Literacy, and The Pursuit of Prosperity: Party Competition & Policy Outcomes in 50 States About the Talk: We examine whether strenuous party competition promotes economic development and improves social outcomes, drawing on evidence from the 50 American states over the last century. Our evidence includes data on party competition, state spending, and measures of Read more…

Foreign Real Estate Investment and Incumbent Party Support in the U.S. Few economic issues affect people as personally and universally as housing. Yet despite the increasing globalization of housing markets, little is known about its effect on political behavior. This study explores how Chinese investments in U.S. residential property shaped Read more…

Why Did Residual Votes Increase in the 2016 Election? Did you know that nearly 2% of voters who went to the polls in 2016 failed to cast a vote for president? This 2% “residual vote rate” is nearly double the rate in the presidential elections from 2004–2012. Did the increased Read more…

Presidents and the Congressional Black Caucus: Electoral Incentives and Budget Politics Brian Newman will discuss his research paper (co-authored with John Griffin of University of Colorado, Boulder).  What are the racial consequences of presidents’ incentives to move toward the median voter as elections approach?  If presidents move toward the center, they Read more…

"Why Legislators Don’t Compromise and What to Do About It" Legislative solutions to society’s pressing problems usually require compromise, but we find that around a quarter of state legislators and many elected city officials reject proposals that move policy in their preferred direction and make them better off. The legislators Read more…

"Revolving Doors" co-authored by Ryan Hubert, UC Berkeley Janna Rezaee's research focuses on the "revolving door" between government and the private sector as an institutional response to policy-development monopolies. The prevailing wisdom about the revolving door is that it provides leverage to business interests to shape policy outcomes in their Read more…

The Challenge of Measuring Political Polarization in the US over Time using Congressional Roll Call Votes Jeff Lewis is professor of Political Science, UCLA.  He is also the current president of the Society for Political Methodology. His research and teaching are in the areas of quantitative methodology and American politics. Read more…

Beyond a Reliable Vote: Coordination and Information Problems in Congressional Nominations Research in collaboration with: Knox Brown, Angela Ocampo, Shawn Patterson, John Ray and John Zaller Congressional primaries, like primary elections in general, are imagined to give voters, rather than party elites, the ability to choose which candidate wins the nomination. Read more…

The Power of Economic Interests Under Direct versus Representative Democracy The power of economic interest groups to influence policy outcomes is a common theme in economics and political science. Most theories posit that interest group power arises from the ability to influence elected or appointed government officials, that is, by exploiting Read more…