My research examines American political institutions and the public policymaking process. My scholarly interests lay in how institutions process complex problems; for example, my dissertation considers why policy responses to American economic downturns are often late and inadequate. I focus on the role of uncertainty inherent in economic information. I argue that the difficulty of predicting an economic downturn and the effects of proposed responses makes building inter-institutional consensus around policy priorities exceptionally challenging. Perversely, policymakers find it most difficult to act in a timely manner when timely action is most needed. I integrate several strands of institutional analysis to determine where the myriad blind spots that hinder macroeconomic policymaking performance arise, and why those sources of friction limit the ability of policymakers to win adoption of opportune and effective policies. This analysis captures policymaking across institutions rather than institutions in isolation.
My published work exemplifies the multi-dimensional nature of my research agenda moving forward. My first sole-authored article appeared in the 2011 Policy Studies Journal, Public Policy Yearbook and surveyed the past two years of research on agenda-setting in the public policy process. I argued that agenda research had moved beyond metaphors, such as punctuated equilibrium, and started to examine the precise causal mechanisms behind issue attention and policy change. My chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress (with John Wilkerson) entitled, ``The Ties That Bind: Coalitions in Congress,'' offers a new typology for understanding congressional coalitions, and we argue that endurance and issue characteristics define coalitions. Our typology can be used to understand how and why coalitions form -- a research area ripe for greater exploration. Presently, in addition to my dissertation work, I have an article that examines macroeconomic policymaking under review for the 2012 Policy Studies Journal, Public Policy Yearbook. Peter May, Ashley Jochim and I have an article under review that examines the ways politics limits how institutions process policy problems.
While I foremost intend to revise my dissertation into my first book project, my research agenda will continue to explore how institutions process complex problems in addition to issues in American political economy. This can be done in several ways, and I categorize them as studies of information production and consumption. One idea closely related to my dissertation research considers how the President and his staff employ agency-produced data when making appeals to Congress. I am also interested in how the adoption of modern information technology has altered inter-institutional responsiveness to policy problems. Another future research avenue considers bureaucratic politics and how externally-provided information signals problems in the regulatory process. I am particularly interested in the interplay of bureaucratic regulation of the economy and business interests. This interest extends to how state and local regulatory agencies cooperate and conflict with Federal officials and the effects of multi-level governance. American political economy offers a multitude of research directions, but the choice of how I develop these depends on my setting and the opportunities that arise for funding among other factors.
Beyond Metaphors: New Research on Agendas in the Policy Process, Policy Studies Journal, Public Policy Yearbook, 2011
A New Normal? American Economic Policymaking After the Great Recession, Policy Studies Journal, Public Policy Yearbook, forthcoming
The Ties that Bind: Coalitions in Congress, chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the American Congress, with John D. Wilkerson, 2011
A Day Late and A Dollar Short: An Informational Model of American Macroeconomic Policymaking, presented at the 2011 Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago
Political Limits to the Processing of Policy Problems, with Peter J. May and Ashley E. Jochim, working paper
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