I am associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Irvine, where I teach courses in American politics, public policy, and California politics. I am a core faculty member in the Master in Public Policy (MPP) program, and an affiliate of the Center for the Study of Democracy. Prior to arriving at UC Irvine I was Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. I received my doctorate from the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington, where I was a graduate fellow with the Center for American Politics and Public Policy.

My research focuses on public policy innovation and political decision-making in America. I have substantive interests in state-level public health, immigration and criminal justice policy-making. My work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, the Policy Studies Journal, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, the Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. My book Policy Diffusion Dynamics in America (Cambridge University Press, 2010) integrates research from agenda setting and epidemiology to model factors that shape the speed and scope of public policy diffusion. You can access recent reviews of the book here and here. I am currently involved in a number of projects related to the rise in administrative power and the dynamics of national and state level public policy making in the United States. You can learn more about my interests on my publications and working papers pages.