About Me

The unifying purpose of my research is to understand the different parts of the American constitutional system in light of the overall health of the American regime. I call this a diagnostic approach to the study of politics, which entails answering both normative and empirical questions: I study American institutions in historical context with a view to uncovering their purposes, and assessing their functionality in light of those purposes.  

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My first book, Demagogues in American Politics, was published by Oxford University Press in 2022. My second book, Dwight Eisenhower and the Federal Highway Act, is forthcoming 2024 at the University Press of Kansas.

 

I have authored numerous journal articles in publications including Presidential Studies Quarterly, Journal of Law and Courts, and American Political Thought. I have also written widely for the popular press.

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I received my PhD in Government from the University of Texas at Austin. The Government Department at UT Austin has nominated my dissertation for the George C. Edwards III, E.E. Schattschneider, and Walter Dean Burnham Dissertation Awards.