Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I received my Ph.D. from Harvard University, and previously served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Yale University before joining the UW-Madison faculty.  My book, Where Money Matters in Congress (under contract with Cambridge University Press), examines the influence of money on the internal politics of Congress and the biases it has for the policy-making process.  Primarily a Congress scholar, my research revolves around three themes: the influence of money in American politics, understanding political parties, and exploring the complexities of congressional representation.  My research has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, the British Journal of Political Science, and Political Science Research and Methods among other journals.  I'm currently serving as the Past-President of the Midwest Political Science Association and am a member of the MPSA Executive Committee and MPSA Council. In 2020 I served as the Program Co-Chair for the MPSA.  I'm the co-founder of Women in Legislative Studies. 

Research on the Influence of Money in American Politics:  

  1. Book: Where Money Matters in Congress: A Window into How Parties Evolve ​(under contract Cambridge University Press)​
  2. "Politics and Healthcare Spending in the United States: A Case Study from the Passage of the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act" (joint with Zack Cooper, Amanda Kowalski and Jennifer Wu, Journal of Health Economics) 
  3. “Legislator Advocacy on Behalf of Constituents and Corporate Donors:  A Case Study of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission” (joint with Devin Judge-Lord and Justin Grimmer, in Accountability and Public Policy: Voters and Governance in the Contemporary United States.  
  4. "Money in Exile: Campaign Contributions and Committee Access" (joint with Justin Grimmer, Journal of Politics)​​​
  5.  "Professional Societies, Political Action Committees, and Party Preferences"(joint with Steven L. Bernstein and Carol L. Barsky, American Journal of  Public Health)
  6. "Driving Support: Workers, PACs, and Congressional Support of the Auto Industry" (joint with Ryan T. Moore & Andrew Reeves, Business & Politics)
  7. "A Preliminary Look at Money in Judicial Politics" (working paper joint with                Maya Sen)

Research on Understanding Political Parties:
  1. Book: Where Money Matters in Congress: A Window into How Parties Evolve ​(under contract Cambridge University Press)​   
  2. "Understanding The Party Brand: Experimental Evidence on the Role of Valence" (Joint with Daniel M. Butler, Journal of Politics) 
  3. "Revisiting Electoral Volatility in Post-Communist Countries: New Data, New Results and New Approaches" (Joint with Joshua A. Tucker, British Journal of Political Science)
  4. "Crowded Space, Fertile Ground: Party Entry and the Effective Number of Parties" (Joint with Daniel Kselman and Joshua A. Tucker  Political Science Research and Methods). 
  5. "Little is Known about Party System Volatility in Post-Communist Europe, but we have New Methods and Data for Studying It" (joint with Joshua A. Tucker, British Journal of Political Science) 
  6. "Ideology and Party Pressure in Congress: A (New) Data-Based Approach" 
  7. Book Project: The Party Brand in Legislatures (Joint with Daniel M. Butler)

Research on Complexities of Congressional Representation:
  1. "How Shifting Priorities and Capacity Affect Policy Work and Constituency Service:  Evidence from a Census of Legislator Requests to U.S. Federal Agencies" (joint with Devin-Judge Lord and Justin Grimmer, conditionally accepted American Journal of Political Science)
  2. "Congressmen in Exile: The Politics and Consequences of Involuntary Committee Removal" (joint with Justin Grimmer, Journal of Politics)​​​
  3. "Gridlock Intervals, Judicial Appointments and the US Senate" (Joint with Daniel Metcalf and Ryan Owens)
  4. Book Project: Unequal Invisible Representation (Joint with Devin Judge-Lord and Rochelle Snyder)
​
Additional Research: 
  1. "Women in Legislative Studies: Improving Gender Equality" (Joint with Leslie Schwindt-Bayer and Gisela Sin, PS: Political Science & Politics)
  2. "How Not to Lie Without Statistics" (Joint with Gary King)
  3. "Revisiting Public Opinion  in the 1930s and 1940s" (Joint with Adam Berinsky, Eric Schickler and Ian Yohai, PS: Political Science & Politics)