Research Agenda
AMerican INstitutions
My research examines the role of race in the shaping of American institutions including exploring questions concerning descriptive representation, the role of race-centric identity groups in shaping the policy process, and the impact of race in the federal court system.
Race and politics
Elements of race permeate virtually every decision made at local and national levels, every piece of legislation enacted, every policy adopted, and every vote cast in America. I seek to explore how and why marginalized groups are impacted by these decisions.
Electoral Policy
Immediately following the 2008 election, a new era of suppressive voting legislation arose. I explore the impacts of existing policy decisions as well as the potential effects of strengthening electoral policies at the federal and state levels.
Featured Work
Incorporation is Not Enough: The Agenda Influence of Black Lawmakers in Congressional Committees
Traditionally, scholars argue that the committee structure is central to the policymaking process in congress, and that those that wield the gavel in committees enjoy a great deal of influence over the legislative agenda. The most recent iterations of Congress are more diverse than ever before. With 55 members—of whom, five chair full committees and 28 sit atop subcommittees—the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is in a place to wield a significant leverage over the legislative agenda in the 116th Congress. However, noticeable proportional gains in minority membership in Congress have yet to produce sizable policy gains for the communities they represent. An examination of bill sponsorship from the 103rd–112th congresses reveals underlying institutional forces—i.e., marginalization and negative agenda setting—leave Black lawmakers at a distinct disadvantage compared to their non-black counterparts. Bills in policy areas targeted by the CBC are subject to disproportionate winnowing in congressional committees. Unfortunately, a number of institutional resources often found to increase a bill's prospects—including placements and leadership on committees with jurisdiction over policy areas of interest—are relatively ineffective for CBC members looking to forward those key issues onto the legislative agenda.
No Justice! Black Protests? No Peace: The Racial Nature of Threat Evaluations of Nonviolent #BlackLivesMatter Protests (With Tyler C. Camarillo)
Abstract: Nonviolent protests have been at the center of minority interest advocacy for nearly a century, as marginalized communities air their grievances in search for substantive policy change.While groups organize and demonstrate in a peaceful manner, there is no guarantee that onlookers will perceive them as such. We find it necessary to explore what factors shape perceptions of social movement protests and how the racial composition of a demonstration can elicit dramatically different responses from onlookers. \To examine the impact of racial identity on protest evaluations, we conduct a survey experiment on a total of 921 respondents. We simulate a media report concerning a Black Lives Matter protest to determine how subtle changes in the racial com-position of the demonstration elicit varying perceptions of a potential for violence. We find that protests that comprise all-Black participants are perceived to have a higher probability to end in violence than more diverse demonstrations. These findings come despite an assurance that the protest in question was peaceful. Consistent with minority threat theory, these perceptions are largely driven by the sentiments of white respondents. We argue that ill-conceived threat perceptions, rooted in the racial composition of Black Lives Matter protests, complicate the mission of those charged with making visible the plight of Black Americans. Even when Black protesters adhere to the “rules” of non-violent protest, there is no guarantee that the biases of on-lookers will not drown out their efforts. These findings have wide reaching implications on the exercise of First Amendment right to protest, the role of the media in reporting on protests, and the expectations of government interactions with protesters
From Complexity to Clarity: A Network Approach to Better Understanding Issues on a Black-Interest Agenda (FORTHCOMING, WITH JOHN D.RACKEY)
Abstract: For decades the burden of drawing institutional attention towards Black issues has rested on the shoulders of representatives of color. However, we lack a comprehensive understanding of how, exactly, Black lawmakers use discourse to communicate Black-interest policy issues to the larger institution. Using discourse network analysis, this study examines Special Order floor speeches organized by the Congressional Black Caucus from the 111th through the 114th Congresses to determine how Black issues are defined and – consequentially – intertwined. We find that during our period of study, CBC members define twenty-seven unique core policy problems. More importantly by identifying the underlying attributes of each issue, the discourse around Black interests in the House provides valuable information for the policymakers that pursue change in those issues and researchers looking to better understand their actions.
Working Papers: Please contact me for complete works
Cross-Cutting Legislation and The Impact of Committee Reform on the Pursuit of Black Interests in the House of Representatives
Abstract: The value of increased diversity in lawmaking bodies and the reconciliation such increases with a perceived lack of substantive policy gains by Black representatives has been at the center of scholarly debate for several decades. Increasingly, scholars have argued, it may be necessary move beyond examinations of voting behavior to identify where members of color represent the interests of their unique constituencies. This analysis seeks to explore the strategy surrounding Black lawmakers effort to shape the legislative agenda in the House of Representatives and how institutional change over time may have impacted their probability of success. More specifically, through an evaluation of bill success from the 103rd to the 112th Congress, I find a positive influence of sponsoring bills that result in multiple committee referrals on the likelihood of bill success at the committee stage and in floor votes. These successes span across the broader sponsorship of Black members as well as in policy areas targeted by the Congressional Black Caucus. I also find that such conditions were not the case prior to a series of reforms that rearranged policy jurisdictions and referee procedures.
An Advocacy Coalition Approach to Understanding In-Group Issue Support Networks within Diversity Infrastructures in the House of Representatives
Abstract: Identity caucuses - like the Congressional Black Caucus - are becoming central in the pursuit of minority interests in the House of Representatives. As the organization's members increasingly reliant on the caucus to achieve substantive legislative goals, it is important to understand how the group's members coalesce around the issues that impact the unique constituencies that they represent. The Black Caucus is often thought of as a cohesive organization - evident in their roll-call vote patterns. Unfortunately, existing literature and theories of black representations fall short of a comprehensive explanation of caucus activity at across multiple stages of the legislative process and across both core and secondary interests. Through an examination of cosponsorship in the 110th Congress, I find that presumptions found in Sabatier's Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) provide a sound foundation that explains in-group cohesion in core policy areas.
Towards “Commonality”?: The Evolving Core Policy Issues of the Congressional Black Caucus
Abstract: Lawmakers of color have long been presumed to be in pursuit of a particular set of policy outcomes aimed at improving the quality of life for a segment of the population that has, since the incarnation of this nation, been proportionately and likely substantively underrepresented in Congress. As a result, scholarship con-cerning the policy concerns held by members of color take on the identity often referred to as “Black issues”. This moniker is often narrowly defined, restrictive in nature and consists of often racialized, contentious policy issues. Increasingly, scholars argue the modern generation of Black lawmakers may be shifting away from such policies of “difference” and moving towards a politics of “commonality” - a more pragmatic and less contentious set of policy goals. This analysis takes a unique approach to measuring legislative agendas to determine to what degree these assumptions hold as time has progressed. I employ a measure of “Issue Centrality” derived from social network analysis that deviates from traditional practices of gauging the impact of relational connections between people, and views legislative agendas as a set of interconnected policy issues pursued by members and the groups that are composed of these individuals. In examining the issue agenda of the Congressional Black Caucus from the endpoint of focus for Canon, I find not only does his prediction of CBC members promoting less contentious, less racialized issues hold firm, these policies of “commonality” have since supplanted the policies of “difference” atop the core set of issues pursued by the caucus from the 103rd through the 112th Congress.
Old Policy, New Politics: A Lesson of Institutional and Policy Drift from the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization
Abstract: Schattsneider's now-foundational commentary, asserting that ``new policies create new politics", certainly captures the nature of legislating in this modern political atmosphere. The ruling invalidating Section 4 and effectively grounding one of the major enforcement mechanism in Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) will likely have long-term ramifications on American electoral processes. The John Roberts-authored majority ruling outlined how a broken process of policy evaluation and updating culminated in the Court finding the coverage formula - designed in the earliest versions of the Act - antiquated. What lessons can be derived from the Court decision in Shelby v. Holder? I find that the current iteration of the Voting Rights Act, or the remnants of the Act that remains after Shelby is the product of a perfect storm of two forms of drift - endogenous and exogenous - and their imposition of these costs on an institution and its actors, complicating the furtherance of a temporary piece of legislation.
By Any Means Necessary: Voter Suppression and Republican Viability in a Browning Nation
Abstract: How do political actors and parties respond to threats to their viability? This study explores the roles that evolving demographics and electoral competition, highlighted by the 2008 Presidential election, played in the enactment of suppressive voting legislation across the country. Using 2010 Census Election data, I find the enactment of suppressive legislation since 2010 has largely occurred in competitive states and states with the most extreme increases in minority participation, while the aggressive posture a state takes in seeking multiple forms of restrictive legislation is dependent upon surges in minority population.
It Takes a Village: Identity Caucuses & Cultivating Effective Descriptive Representatives in the Modern Congress
Abstract: As traditionally underrepresented groups seek to increase proportionality in Congress, the cultivation of effective representatives often takes on a more impactful role within the ranks of the disadvantaged. Minority and female representatives face institutional barriers that threaten their ability to advance very specific agendas through the legislative process. Thus, members of these identity groups often suffer from deficits in overall effectiveness. Are identity caucuses the proper mechanism to step in and aid minority and female representatives in overcoming the steep learning curve that often accompanies freshmen lawmakers as well as inherent barriers that work to thwart substantive representation gains? This study evaluates identity caucus membership from the 109th to the 113th Congress and finds that the benefits that may come with caucus membership – increased information flow, opportunities for broadening networks, and coalition building – have the potential propel them out of their initial deficit and raise the effectiveness of rookie lawmakers to the point that they outperform their non-member counterparts.
The Compounding Effects Ex Post Facto Policy Decisions on Strict Voter-ID States: A Study of Alabama and DMV Closures
Abstract: In 2011, the state of Alabama, in conjunction with a wave of conservative states, adopted their version of strict voter identification legislation. One year later, on October 1, 2015, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) – citing budget concerns - announced the closure of 31 drivers’ license offices – the very offices also charged with the issuance of voter identification cards. Critics of this move contend it may have been politically motivated in an effort to suppress participation and compound the effects of the newly implemented voter identification policy. This study seeks to gauge the impact of these DMV closures – independent of the impact of the implementation of voter identification – in an effort to capture how limiting access to required documentation effects registration levels within a respective jurisdiction. It also looks to determine if traditionally disadvantaged populations were disproportionately impacted by this policy decision. Analysis reveals, not only did registration rates in effected counties suffer massive decreases in overall registrants, but the closures altered the proportion of white-to-non-white registered voters.
Other Works
Blog Post
"Why Senate Democrats should vote for cloture on Grouch’s nomination"
with John D. Rackey. London School of Economics American Politics and Policy Blog. April 3, 2017.