Office Hours:
Mon - Thur: 2 pm - 3:30 pm
or by appointment
Fall 2023
Psci 201-049X / American National Government
Psci 202-000A / State and Local Government
Psci 301-049Y / Comparative Government
Hist/Psci 426-000A / American Constitutional Law
I am passionate about teaching all aspects of American and comparative politics. I
particularly enjoy helping students to pursue their own passions by engaging in the
collection and analysis of political data. In the past, my classes have conducted
election day exit polling from which the resulting data was used to construct individualized
research project. At The College of Wooster, I advised Senior Independent Study theses
which entailed students undertaking yearlong original research projects on topics
of their choosing. In the classroom, I strive to introduce students to a diverse
array of literature with varying perspectives on topics important to today’s political
environment such as political polarization. My goal is to provide students with the
tools and understanding necessary to critically assess and even challenge theories
and arguments related to political phenomena.
There is a saying in political science that representative democracy is unimaginable
without political parties. In the broadest sense, I am engaged in the study of political
parties and their relationship with democracy. More specifically, I am interested
in understating how parties change, how they decay and how they can potentially renew
themselves.
In my forthcoming dissertation, I investigate how economic change impacts local party
systems. When looking at the Appalachian region of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
and West Virginia, I find that the decline of manufacturing and mining industries
and associated labor unions has produced a destabilizing effect on local party systems.
I trace this effect by examining patterns of voting behavior, party registration
and voter turnout since the 1950s. The destabilization that I chronicle has not only
had a major impact at the local level, but it can help to explain dramatic changes
in political parties and institutional performance at the national level. This research
is important because it highlights the relationship between our changing economy and
political instability. Among other things, this helps to provide a better understanding
of how voters in a once stable party systems can be attracted to the divisive appeals
from candidate-centered campaigns such as that of former President Donald Trump.
