I am currently an assistant professor in the School of Public Service at Boise State University.
Within comparative politics, I focus on both formal and informal institutions, legislative organization, political parties, political participation, and support for and satisfaction with democracy.
Within international relations, I focus on how US troop deployments influence host-state defense spending.
I have a particular interest in Latin American Politics, with a special focus on Mexico. However, my research also examines patterns of political behavior in the US, Europe, and Africa.
In more recent research, I have become a member of a large research group that is collecting and analyzing data on COVID-19 policy responses in countries throughout the world. You can visit the project’s site here.
“In framing a government which is to administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” –James Madison