Research

My research activities are motivated by my long-standing interests in the study of Organizational Theory, American Political Institutions, Political Economics, Policy Making, and Decision-Making Behavior in a variety of contexts. This eclectic set of interests underscore my central aim of arriving at basic insights regarding both democratic governance and performance. Listed below are the core topics that have largely defined the parameters of my scholarly interests during my academic career:

Organizational behavior, arrangements, and mechanism design both within and across government institutions (public bureaucracies, executive and legislative branches).
Understanding both the role and distribution of executive authority relating to administrative policymaking within U.S. federal and state governments.
Centralization of fiscal and budgetary policymaking, and administrative organizations within separation of powers systems.
Decision-making processes in the realm of both mass publics and governments.

Current projects that fit under these parameters include a large-scale study of administrative staff expertise and capacity within U.S. legislative committees and its implications for legislative activity and performance (with Joshua McCrain, University of Utah); analyzing the policy and management consequences of U.S. federal agency leadership; organizational approaches to understanding discrimination and diversity & inclusion within U.S. federal government agencies (with Jungyeon Park, University of South Alabama); and analyses of U.S. federal executive appointments within a separation of powers context (with Gary Hollibaugh, University of Pittsburgh; Jason S. Byers, Duke University).