I am Provost Professor of Public Policy, Political Science, and Law; Maria B. Crutcher Professor of Citizenship and Democratic Values; and Director of the Political Institutions and Political Economy (PIPE) Collaborative at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California.
American political history is a favorite topic of mine and plays an important role in my research. Much of my work focuses on the origins and development of American political institutions, notably congressional and partisan institutions.
Two of my recent books include: Republican Party Politics and the American South, 1865-1968 (Cambridge University Press, 2020) with Boris Heersink — which won the 2021 V. O. Key Award (from SPSA) and the 2021 J. David Greenstone Prize (from APSA) — and Congress and the First Civil Rights Era, 1861-1918 (University of Chicago Press, 2021) — which won the 2023 V. O. Key Award (from SPSA) — with Justin Peck.
I recently edited The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy, with Jared Rubin, which was published in January 2024. Jared and I also edit a Historical Political Economy book series on Cambridge University Press (if you have an interesting idea for a book — and more importantly a prospectus — please contact me!)
I am the founding Editor of the Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, which began publishing in 2020, and the Journal of Historical Political Economy, which began publishing in 2021. I was previously Editor in Chief of The Journal of Politics for six years (2015-2020).
I am Editor in Chief of Broadstreet, a blog that focuses on historical political economy, and I host a podcast called P.S. You’re Interesting, where I talk to political scientists about their research.
Finally, I am the Founder of the Southern California Political Institutions and Political Economy Working Group, which brings together PIPE scholars from across Southern California. We meet three times a year at different participating universities.