Research Topics
A. How Politicians Engage Voters
B. Causes and Consequences of Competition
C. Political Hobbyism
D. Behavioral Applications of Voter Files and Other Personal Records
A. How Politicians Engage Voters
1. Hacking the Electorate: How Campaigns Perceive Voters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Book Reviews: Daniel Kreiss, David Karpf, New York Review of Books
Related Public Writing: "Data Availability Determines Whether Campaigns Focus on the Middle or the Base." FiveThirtyEight. August 10, 2015.
Testimony before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding voting targeting in the 2016 election, May 16, 2018.
2. "Party Activists as Campaign Advertisers: The Ground Campaign as a Principal-Agent Problem." With Ryan Enos. 2015. American Political Science Review. 109 (2): 252-278.
3. "Targeted Campaign Appeals and the Value of Ambiguity." With Brian Schaffner. 2013. Journal of Politics. 75(2): 520-534.
1. Hacking the Electorate: How Campaigns Perceive Voters. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Book Reviews: Daniel Kreiss, David Karpf, New York Review of Books
Related Public Writing: "Data Availability Determines Whether Campaigns Focus on the Middle or the Base." FiveThirtyEight. August 10, 2015.
Testimony before the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary regarding voting targeting in the 2016 election, May 16, 2018.
2. "Party Activists as Campaign Advertisers: The Ground Campaign as a Principal-Agent Problem." With Ryan Enos. 2015. American Political Science Review. 109 (2): 252-278.
3. "Targeted Campaign Appeals and the Value of Ambiguity." With Brian Schaffner. 2013. Journal of Politics. 75(2): 520-534.
B. Causes and Consequences of Competition
1. "Voting Costs and Voter Turnout in Competitive Elections." With Bernard Fraga. 2011. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 5(4): 339-356.
2. "Are Americans Stuck in Uncompetitive Enclaves? An Appraisal of U.S. Electoral Competition." With Bernard Fraga. 2018. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 13(3): 291-311.
Related Public Writing: "With Trump in the Race, The Battleground is Everywhere," FiveThirtyEight, June 21, 2016.
3. "Campaign Perceptions of Electoral Closeness: Uncertainty, Fear, and Over-Confidence." With Ryan Enos. 2017. British Journal of Political Science. 47(3): 501-519.
Related Public Writing: "Everyone is Sure Their Side is Going to Win, Even When it Loses Big." With Ryan Enos. Washington Post Monkey Cage. November 7, 2016.
4. "Are Close Elections Random?" 2011. With Justin Grimmer, Brian Feinstein, and Daniel Carpenter. Unpublished Manuscript.
1. "Voting Costs and Voter Turnout in Competitive Elections." With Bernard Fraga. 2011. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 5(4): 339-356.
2. "Are Americans Stuck in Uncompetitive Enclaves? An Appraisal of U.S. Electoral Competition." With Bernard Fraga. 2018. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 13(3): 291-311.
Related Public Writing: "With Trump in the Race, The Battleground is Everywhere," FiveThirtyEight, June 21, 2016.
3. "Campaign Perceptions of Electoral Closeness: Uncertainty, Fear, and Over-Confidence." With Ryan Enos. 2017. British Journal of Political Science. 47(3): 501-519.
Related Public Writing: "Everyone is Sure Their Side is Going to Win, Even When it Loses Big." With Ryan Enos. Washington Post Monkey Cage. November 7, 2016.
4. "Are Close Elections Random?" 2011. With Justin Grimmer, Brian Feinstein, and Daniel Carpenter. Unpublished Manuscript.
C. Political Hobbyism
1. Political Hobbyism: A Theory of Mass Behavior.
(NOTE: Academic working paper here. Book on this topic under contract.)
Related Public Writing: "Political Hobbyists are Ruining the Country," New York Times, July 2, 2017.
Related Public Writing: "The Most Dangerous Hobby." Boston Globe, May 3, 2016.
Related Public Writing: "What the Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry Can Teach Us About Political Polarization," FiveThirtyEight, August 11, 2016.
2. "Post-Materialist Particularism: What Petitions Can Tell Us about Biases in the Policy Agenda." With Brian Schaffner. 2017. American Politics Research. Forthcoming
3. "Primary Voters Versus Caucus Goers and the Peripheral Motivations of Political Participation." 2012. Political Behavior. 34(4): 689-718.
Related Public Writing: "A Caucus-Goer's Community" Reuters, January 3, 2012.
4. The Motivations of Campaign Contributors. With Brian Schaffner. In Progress.
Related Public Writing: "The GOP's Jewish Donors are Abandoning Trump." With Brian Schaffner. FiveThirtyEight, September 21, 2016.
1. Political Hobbyism: A Theory of Mass Behavior.
(NOTE: Academic working paper here. Book on this topic under contract.)
Related Public Writing: "Political Hobbyists are Ruining the Country," New York Times, July 2, 2017.
Related Public Writing: "The Most Dangerous Hobby." Boston Globe, May 3, 2016.
Related Public Writing: "What the Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry Can Teach Us About Political Polarization," FiveThirtyEight, August 11, 2016.
2. "Post-Materialist Particularism: What Petitions Can Tell Us about Biases in the Policy Agenda." With Brian Schaffner. 2017. American Politics Research. Forthcoming
3. "Primary Voters Versus Caucus Goers and the Peripheral Motivations of Political Participation." 2012. Political Behavior. 34(4): 689-718.
Related Public Writing: "A Caucus-Goer's Community" Reuters, January 3, 2012.
4. The Motivations of Campaign Contributors. With Brian Schaffner. In Progress.
Related Public Writing: "The GOP's Jewish Donors are Abandoning Trump." With Brian Schaffner. FiveThirtyEight, September 21, 2016.
D. Behavioral Applications of Voter Files and Personal Records
1. "The Primacy of Race in the Geography of Income-Based Voting: New Evidence from Public Voting Records." With Clayton Nall. 2016. American Journal of Political Science. 60(2): 289-303.
2. "Democratic and Republican Physicians Provide Different Care on Politicized Health Issues." With Matthew Goldenberg. 2016. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(42): 11811-11816.
(Related Conference: "Political Beliefs and Civic Engagement of Physicians in an Era of Polarization," December 1, 2017.)
3. "The Long-Term Effect of September 11 on the Political Behavior of Victims' Families and Neighbors." 2013. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110(52): 20959-20963.
Erratum: In Table SI-2, the observation count for victims should read 1,179 rather than 1,117.
4. "Mixed Partisan Households and Electoral Participation in the United States." With Yair Ghitza. 2018. PLOS ONE.
Related Public Writing: "How Many Republicans Marry Democrats?" FiveThirtyEight, June 28, 2016.
5. Partisan Pastor: The Politics of 130,000 American Religious Leaders. With Gabrielle Malina. 2017. In Progress.
6. "Obstacles to Estimating Voter ID Laws' Effect on Turnout." With Justin Grimmer, Marc Meredith, Jonathan Mummolo, and Clayton Nall. 2018. Journal of Politics. 80 (3): 1045-1051.
Note: This article is part of a "scholarly dialogue." Participants in this dialogue allege that my coauthors and I argue that voter ID laws help minority voters. Lest there be any confusion, we emphatically do not argue such a position.
7. "The Dynamic Election: Patterns of Early Voting across Time, State, Party, and Age." With Vivekinan Ashok, Daniel Feder, and Mary McGrath. Election Law Journal. Forthcoming.
8. "Validation: What Big Data Reveal about Survey Misreporting and the Real Electorate." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2012. Political Analysis. 20(4): 437-459.
9. "Movers, Stayers, and Registration: Why Age is Correlated with Registration in the U.S." With Stephen Ansolabehere and Kenneth Shepsle. 2012. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 7(4): 333-363.
10. "Gender, Race, Age, and Voting: A Research Note." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2013. Politics and Governance. 1(2):132-137.
11. "Who Really Votes?" With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2011. In Facing the Challenge of Democracy, Eds. Paul M. Sniderman and Benjamin Highton. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
About Voter Files and Linkage Methods:
12. "ADGN: An Algorithm for Record Linkage Using Address, Date of Birth, Gender, and Name." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2017, Statistics and Public Policy.
13. "Voter Registration: The Process and Quality of Lists." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2014. In The Measure of American Elections. Eds. Barry C. Burden and Charles Stewart III. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14. "Voter Registration List Quality Pilot Studies." With Stephen Ansolabehere, David Doherty, and Alan Gerber. 2010. Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Report.
1. "The Primacy of Race in the Geography of Income-Based Voting: New Evidence from Public Voting Records." With Clayton Nall. 2016. American Journal of Political Science. 60(2): 289-303.
2. "Democratic and Republican Physicians Provide Different Care on Politicized Health Issues." With Matthew Goldenberg. 2016. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(42): 11811-11816.
(Related Conference: "Political Beliefs and Civic Engagement of Physicians in an Era of Polarization," December 1, 2017.)
3. "The Long-Term Effect of September 11 on the Political Behavior of Victims' Families and Neighbors." 2013. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110(52): 20959-20963.
Erratum: In Table SI-2, the observation count for victims should read 1,179 rather than 1,117.
4. "Mixed Partisan Households and Electoral Participation in the United States." With Yair Ghitza. 2018. PLOS ONE.
Related Public Writing: "How Many Republicans Marry Democrats?" FiveThirtyEight, June 28, 2016.
5. Partisan Pastor: The Politics of 130,000 American Religious Leaders. With Gabrielle Malina. 2017. In Progress.
6. "Obstacles to Estimating Voter ID Laws' Effect on Turnout." With Justin Grimmer, Marc Meredith, Jonathan Mummolo, and Clayton Nall. 2018. Journal of Politics. 80 (3): 1045-1051.
Note: This article is part of a "scholarly dialogue." Participants in this dialogue allege that my coauthors and I argue that voter ID laws help minority voters. Lest there be any confusion, we emphatically do not argue such a position.
7. "The Dynamic Election: Patterns of Early Voting across Time, State, Party, and Age." With Vivekinan Ashok, Daniel Feder, and Mary McGrath. Election Law Journal. Forthcoming.
8. "Validation: What Big Data Reveal about Survey Misreporting and the Real Electorate." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2012. Political Analysis. 20(4): 437-459.
9. "Movers, Stayers, and Registration: Why Age is Correlated with Registration in the U.S." With Stephen Ansolabehere and Kenneth Shepsle. 2012. Quarterly Journal of Political Science. 7(4): 333-363.
10. "Gender, Race, Age, and Voting: A Research Note." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2013. Politics and Governance. 1(2):132-137.
11. "Who Really Votes?" With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2011. In Facing the Challenge of Democracy, Eds. Paul M. Sniderman and Benjamin Highton. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
About Voter Files and Linkage Methods:
12. "ADGN: An Algorithm for Record Linkage Using Address, Date of Birth, Gender, and Name." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2017, Statistics and Public Policy.
13. "Voter Registration: The Process and Quality of Lists." With Stephen Ansolabehere. 2014. In The Measure of American Elections. Eds. Barry C. Burden and Charles Stewart III. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
14. "Voter Registration List Quality Pilot Studies." With Stephen Ansolabehere, David Doherty, and Alan Gerber. 2010. Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project Report.