Research

OVERVIEW

My research seeks to explain and understand the mechanisms by which formal political institutions, administrative rules, and informal norms shape and channel individual political behavior. Much of my work involves analysis of voting behavior, elections, and survey data (e.g. the World Values Survey and other comparative datasets). 

My dissertation examined the uniquely controversial subject of redistricting in the United States from three perspectives. First as an exercise in deliberative democracy, I find public comment hearings held after the 2010 census in the western States were a rich source of feasibly mappable suggestions to the various redistricting authorities, many of which were ultimately adopted into district plans. Second, as a study of institutional variation, I find maps drawn by commissions in the western States (relative to legislatures or courts) are delivered on a timely basis, more likely to survive legal challenge, and modestly increase competition in the post-redistricting election. Third, I assess the relationship between district compactness, one of the "traditional redistricting criteria," and turnout, competition, and Democratic vote share based on data from 1992-2012. These results indicate district compactness has no significant effect on either turnout or competition in U.S. House races, but is negatively related to Democratic vote share.

I have also published work examining the effects of changes in administrative rules, for example Oregon's system of conducting elections entirely by mail or the abolition of compulsory voting in the Netherlands. I am currently engaged in a number of projects in this area, including a working paper that examines co-ethnic mobilization and turnout in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections.

I am engaged in comparative voting behavior research while a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tampere. Despite the differences in electoral and party systems, both Finland and the United States exhibit candidate-centered elections and a separately elected President.