I’m a professor in the Government Department at William & Mary, where I’ve been on the faculty since 1987.
My main research and teaching interests relate to American political institutions. I’m the author of three books: The Whips: Building Party Coalitions in Congress(University of Michigan Press, 2018); Congress Under Fire: Reform Politics and the Republican Majority, with Walter Oleszek (Houghton Mifflin, 1997); and Leadership in Committee: A Comparative Analysis of Leadership Behavior in the U.S. Senate (University of Michigan Press, 1991, 2001), as well as a number of articles and book chapters about congressional politics. Additionally, I am coeditor of the 12th edition of Congress Reconsidered, with Larry Dodd and Bruce Oppenheimer, and of the 13th edition, with Dodd, Oppenheimer, and Ruth Bloch Rubin. Published every four years for over four decades now, Congress Reconsidered (CQ Press/Sage) features the best contemporary work from leading congressional scholars.
My most recent article, “Senate Countermajoritarianism,” was published in the American Political Science Review, and concerns the prevalence of minority rule within the Senate because of malapportionment and the obstructionist potential of chamber rules. My book about congressional whips and party coalition building won the Richard F. Fenno Prize, which is awarded annually by the American Political Science Association for the best book about legislatures. A data archive including the results of over 650 whip counts from the U.S. House can be accessed via the menu item above. Researchers interested in other data referenced in The Whips are encouraged to contact me.
Currently, I have several ongoing research projects. One is a manuscript, tentatively titled, U.S. Senators and the Act of Representation, which combines extensive elite interviewing on Capitol Hill and archival research in the personal papers of retired members of the Senate. I also am preparing a series of papers about the impact of bicameralism on congressional lawmaking that may be reconfigured into a short book manuscript.
Over the years, I’ve served in a variety of staff positions in Congress and enjoy advising students about professional opportunities on Capitol Hill. During 1991-92, as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, I spent the academic year learning about the Congress while working in the personal office of a prominent member of the U.S. House. In 1992-93, I served as professional staff to the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress, a temporary, bipartisan panel charged with formulating proposals for reforming the House and Senate. I also have served as co-editor of the Legislative Studies Quarterly (2003-07), the leading scholarly journal specializing in legislatures, and as chair of the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association (2011-13).
My PhD in political science was awarded by the University of Rochester, where I was privileged to study with Larry M. Bartels, Richard F. Fenno, Jr., and William H. Riker, among other pathbreaking scholars.