At the intersection of international relations and comparative politics, my research interests are connected by the threads of political leadership and policy-making and migration. I have written works on coups d'état, state formation, as well as forced and voluntary migration.
My dissertation provides a new look at the unintended consequences of principal-agent problems in regimes that have a small selectorate. I collected a new data set, accumulating the most intensive collection to date, of town charters. Making use of these archival materials, I look at the influence of political agents on urban economic openness and the emergence of a national market. I then use this historical data to motivate a study on the success of current-day movements for increased autonomy. I look along these historical economic boundaries to see if they continue to see themselves as separate from the larger state in the present-day. This project is undertaken in the context of long-established European states: the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Ireland/Northern Ireland) and France.
My dissertation provides a new look at the unintended consequences of principal-agent problems in regimes that have a small selectorate. I collected a new data set, accumulating the most intensive collection to date, of town charters. Making use of these archival materials, I look at the influence of political agents on urban economic openness and the emergence of a national market. I then use this historical data to motivate a study on the success of current-day movements for increased autonomy. I look along these historical economic boundaries to see if they continue to see themselves as separate from the larger state in the present-day. This project is undertaken in the context of long-established European states: the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Ireland/Northern Ireland) and France.
By Topic
Historical Political Economy
- Founding Cities, Finding Identity: The Legacy of Migration and Other Protectionist Policies on Nation-State Projects. Book-length dissertation project. Working.
- "Elite Capture and State Formation: Municipal Economic Policy in France and the British Isles, 1000-1776." Working.
Leadership Transitions
- "Even Generals Need Friends: How Domestic and International Reactions to Coups Influence Regime Survival." With Clayton Thyne, Jonathan Powell, and Sarah Parrott. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2018. pdf | data
- "Constitutional Constraints on Extra-Constitutional Matters: A Structural Model of Coup-Proofing." With Xiaoyan Qiu. Working.
- "Draining the Swamp? Partisan Bias in the Prosecution of Former Latin American Leaders." With Gretchen Helmke, YeonKyung Jeong, Ezgi Siir Kibris, Jae Eun Kim, and Adriana Tobar. Working.
Migrants, Refugees, and International Treaty Compliance
- "Shared Territory, Regime Alignment, and Forced Migration." With Bethany Lacina and Karen Albert. Working. pdf
- "Empty Promises: Text Analysis of National Legislation Submitted to the UNHCR, 1959-2018." With Anna Oltman. Working.
- '"Are American Immigrant Processing Institutions Surviving or Thriving? Large-Scale Immigration as a Shock to Institutional Robustness." Requested book chapter. The Political Economy and Social Philosophy of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom, 2020. pdf
- "Are All Human Rights Equal? Proxy Wars as Deterrents for International Treaty Compliance." With Rachel Schoner. Working.
Autonomous Movements
Forthcoming
Photo used under Creative Commons from Jeanne Menjoulet
orcid.org/0000-0001-5979-2135