My research interests include:

• Political Behavior
• Elections and Voting
• Public Opinion
• Political Psychology
• Democratic Representation

Ultimately, my areas of substantive interest are connected by the study of democratic representation. Much of my work has focused on the manner and degree to which public preferences are translated into public policy. Because democracy is largely exercised through elections, I have especially focused attention on the conditions under which citizens hold elected politicians accountable for policy outcomes.

Broadly speaking, my current research interests center on studying the effects of political messages on the formation of political attitudes, voting decisions, and behavior. My on-going research projects investigate the effects of campaign advertisements and endorsements, the factors that facilitate and limit the persuasiveness of political rhetoric, and the impact of the hyper-choice media environment on public opinion. In each of these projects, I attempt to apply theories developed in psychology, evolutionary psychology, and neurobiology to the study of political phenomena, and empirically test the resulting hypotheses with the help of experimental methods in both laboratory and field settings.

In addition to these substantive topics, I also wish to contribute to the discipline’s understanding of research design and methods at a practical level. My work in this area addresses issues of measurement, interpretation of quantitative models, and experimental design.