Political scientist studying representation through congressional communication
Hi there. I’m an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I build original datasets from congressional records and digital media to examine how legislators communicate with the public and what those choices reveal about political representation. In the classroom, I teach a range of classes in American politics, public law, and methods.
Featured research
Communicating in Congress: Electoral Vulnerability and the Transformation of Franked Outreach
How has congressional communication changed over time, and why do some legislators invest more in reaching constituents than others? Using records from 1991–1995 and 2018–2024, we examine how electoral vulnerability and congressional seniority help explain differences in legislators’ spending on franked communication (official, publicly funded communication with constituents).
Explore my researchWhy Political Science?
Political science examines some of society’s most compelling collective action problems, and those problems play out on the public stage every day. Television, the internet, and social media put the field’s theories on display constantly. Yet exposure to politics is not the same as understanding it.
The media show us political events as they unfold, but it is the job of political scientists to explain why they happen. We study how human behavior and political institutions interact, what shapes political decisions, and what consequences those decisions produce.
The research we conduct, the curricula we create, the findings we publish, and the courses we teach serve a special purpose in a democracy. Citizens need more than information about politics. They need the tools to question what they see, evaluate competing explanations, and understand the institutions and decisions that affect their lives. As researchers and educators, our role is to help citizens make sense of the political world around them, one research question, one class, and one student at a time.