Teaching

Yale University

The Chief and the Bureaucrats: Power Dynamics in the U.S. Executive Branch Undergraduate

This seminar provides an in-depth exploration of the U.S. President’s role within the executive branch, focusing on the interactions between the Chief Executive and the federal bureaucracy. Students examine the constitutional foundations that establish and limit presidential power; the operational structure of the federal bureaucracy; the strategic tools at the President’s disposal to direct and control bureaucratic actions; and the institutional constraints that shape, and sometimes hinder, presidential influence. Drawing on both historical and contemporary case studies, seminar discussions also consider how executive politics scholars study presidential power and control of the bureaucracy.

Introduction to American Politics Undergraduate

An introduction to American national government: the Constitution, American political culture, civil rights, Congress, the executive, political parties, public opinion, interest groups, the media, social movements, and the policy-making process.

Policymaking under Separation of Powers Undergraduate/Graduate

This seminar examines the separation of powers, one of the pillars of the American political system, focusing on the constraints it places on political institutions, the conflict those constraints produce, and how actors make policy amid that conflict. Discussions take up questions such as the role of the veto in legislative-executive bargaining, whether divided government reduces legislative productivity, how much discretion Congress grants the bureaucracy, and whether Supreme Court justices are constrained by the elected branches. Along the way, students learn how scholars study these questions and the tools they use to answer them.

Advanced Topics in American Political Institutions Graduate

This proseminar surveys foundational and frontier research on American political institutions, including Congress, the presidency, the bureaucracy, and the courts. Students engage classic theoretical frameworks alongside current scholarship, with attention to how institutional rules and interbranch interactions shape political behavior and policy outcomes, and develop the tools to evaluate and contribute to research in the field.

Research and Writing Graduate

This seminar guides graduate students through the design and execution of original research in political science, from formulating questions and developing research designs to writing and presenting a publishable paper.