I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Political Science Department at Stanford University. My work investigates the ways that economic and social context influence political attitudes, campaigns, and behavior. I use administrative data, surveys, and social media data – along with modern causal inference methods and rigorous descriptive methods – to generate new insights about the forces that shape modern politics.
Much of my research explores the interplay between two important trends in contemporary American society: nationalization of politics and regional divergence of economic opportunity. An emerging consensus is that politics across the U.S. is increasingly defined by prominent national issues. At the same time, the economic circumstances facing voters are increasingly localized, as some regions thrive in the knowledge economy while others fall behind. With this backdrop, I seek to answer two overarching questions. First, does political nationalization hinder political responsiveness to local conditions? Second, how does local politics influence the geography of opportunity? Broadly, my research shows how economic geography acts as a limitation on the nationalization of politics.
I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in political science and economics, and a minor in math.