Personal Research and Specialties

With regards to my studies, I am what I like to call a reformed political theorist. I love the study of theory and in fact my Master's Degree is based on the study of modern political theory. However, I realized very quickly that most departments see a theorist as something of a luxury and that as such, the positions are few and far between. Being pragmatic, I moved into the much broader job field of American Politics, though I kept theory in my heart.

I passed my comprehensive exams in American Politics and International Relations. My field research paper, which I presented at the Southwest Political Science Association meeting in New Orleans in the spring of 2005, looked at exercises of presidential power in the 1800s, looking specifically at crisis moments that might tend to lend power to the office. It was received well by the panel I was on. I have also written and presented papers on determinants for the length of the rally around the flag effect and the relationship between wars and presidential power.

Current Research

My current research interests lie in the area of American Politics. More specifically, I study American Political Development, or APD. APD is a fairly new field in political science that meshes history explicitly into the study of politics to determine how things came to be the way they are. I focus mainly on the development of presidential power, especially in the pre-modern era (before Franklin Roosevelt). My dissertation looks at rally events in the pre-modern period through textual analysis and tries to gauge their effect on the power of the presidency during those periods.

I am finishing up the data collection for the last of my cases, then will begin the process of analysis and writing. I anticipate being done by the end of 2009.