I am currently teaching faculty at the University of South Carolina, Department of Political Science and founder of the Digital Campaigns Project (DCP). Previously I was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Research Fellow. I received my PhD from Cornell University.
My research explores the impacts of partisan polarization and the nationalization of American politics by examining the rhetoric of state-level politicians relative to their national counterparts. Conventional wisdom suggests that national partisan division and the nationalization of politics will produce consistent polarization and partisan rhetoric across state and federal institutions. Through the use of text analysis, I explore inconsistencies in nationalization across state legislative candidates, with the goal of identifying potential issues that undermine the polarization of American politics. Ultimately, I argue that the mechanisms inherent in America’s federated institutions can challenge national partisan polarization by creating avenues for effective bipartisan governance and enduring policy To accomplish these goals, I maintain an ongoing archive of state legislative campaign websites from 2016-2023 that provided a critical tool for analyzing rhetoric across the states. My current expanding book project explores nationalization through candidate-level nationalization scores developed by exploring the affinity between state candidates and national partisan platforms, presidential websites, and national media outlets. Significant variation in candidate nationalization scores combined with a focused examination of nationalized issues in recent elections including education policy and critical race theory, election integrity, and abortion reveals complex patterns in nationalization that are not easily explained with mere partisanship or even competition. To see more on this project and other projects from the research team, please go to: https://digitalcampaignsproject.uofsccreate.org/ . In addition, I am also exploring other dynamics of nationalization and partisan rhetorical control through ongoing work on the role of the President in shaping the partisan agenda. Specifically, I am working to explore the use of presidential press briefings to police partisan messaging by targeting specific individuals. |
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In the news:
Daily Gamecock - "Experts say any restriction of speech will impact instructors, students at all levels of education" - 2/9/2022
Daily Gamecock - "Medical marijuana likely to be legalized in South Carolina this year with SC Compassionate Care Act" - 1/26/2022
Take on the South Podcast - "Minisode: Southern Politics After the Virginia Gubernatorial Election" - 11/22/2021
Take on the South Podcast - "Episode 2: McAuliffe vs. Youngkin--Virginia's Governor's Race" - 10/27/2021
U of SC Panel - "Interpreting the Results of the 2020 Election" - 1/19/2021
CSUCI Presents - "The American Presidency Project" - 7/15/2020
Santa Barbara Independent - "Does Trump Turn Up the Heat?" - 6/14/2020
UCSB Current - "A Testy Turn" - 6/1/2020
KCRW-"Why are poli sci students afraid to talk impeachment?" - 1/29/2020
Affiliations:
Daily Gamecock - "Experts say any restriction of speech will impact instructors, students at all levels of education" - 2/9/2022
Daily Gamecock - "Medical marijuana likely to be legalized in South Carolina this year with SC Compassionate Care Act" - 1/26/2022
Take on the South Podcast - "Minisode: Southern Politics After the Virginia Gubernatorial Election" - 11/22/2021
Take on the South Podcast - "Episode 2: McAuliffe vs. Youngkin--Virginia's Governor's Race" - 10/27/2021
U of SC Panel - "Interpreting the Results of the 2020 Election" - 1/19/2021
CSUCI Presents - "The American Presidency Project" - 7/15/2020
Santa Barbara Independent - "Does Trump Turn Up the Heat?" - 6/14/2020
UCSB Current - "A Testy Turn" - 6/1/2020
KCRW-"Why are poli sci students afraid to talk impeachment?" - 1/29/2020
Affiliations: