Articles
“Presidential Investment in the Administrative State,” (with Nick Bednar) American Political Science Review, forthcoming [download paper]
“The Independent Agency Myth,” (with Neal Devins), Cornell Law review, forthcoming. [download paper]
“Do Vacancies Hurt Federal Agency Performance?” (with Christopher M. Piper), Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory 33(2):313-28 (2023). [download paper] [download supplementary appendix]
“Is the Failed Pandemic Response a Symptom of a Diseased Administrative State?” Daedalus 150(3):68-88 (Summer 2021). [download paper]
“Elections, Ideology, and Turnover in the U.S. Federal Government,” (with Alexander D. Bolton and John M. de Figueiredo), Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory 31(2):451-66 (2021). [download paper]
“The Very Best People: President Trump and the Management of Executive Personnel,” (with Mark D. Richardson) Presidential Studies Quarterly 51 (1):51-70 (2021). [download paper]
“Partisan Procurement: Contracting with the United States Federal Government, 2003-2015,” (with Carl Dahlstrom and Mihaly Fazekas), American Journal of Political Science 65(3):652-69. [download paper]
“Public-sector Personnel Economics: Wages, Promotions, and the Competence-Control Trade-Off,” (with Charles M. Cameron and John M. de Figueiredo) Advances in Strategic Management 41:111-48 (2020) [download paper]
“Presidents and Turnover in Regulatory Personnel,” (with Kathleen Doherty and Scott Limbocker) Administration & Society, 51:1-25 (2019). [download paper]
“Deconstructing the Administrative State,” Journal of Politics, 81(3):767-89 (2019). [download paper]
Executive Control and Turnover in the Senior Executive Service,” (with Kathleen Doherty and Scott Limbocker) Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory 29(2):159-74 (2019) [Download paper] [Online appendix].
“President Trump as Manager: Reflections on the First Year.” (with Patrick Bernhard and Emily H. You) Presidential Studies Quarterly 48 (3):480-501. [Download paper]
“Elite Perceptions of Agency Ideology and Workforce Skill.” (with Mark D. Richardson and Joshua D. Clinton) Journal of Politics 80(1):303-7 (2018). [Download paper] [Online Appendix]
“Agency Performance Challenges and Agency Politicization.” (with Abby K. Wood) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 27(4):581-95 (2017). [Download paper] [Online Appendix]
“Political Control and the Forms of Agency Independence.” (with Jennifer L. Selin) George Washington Law Review 83(4/5):1487-1516 (2015). [Download paper]
“Presidents and Patronage.” (with Gary E. Hollibaugh, Jr. and Gabe Horton), American Journal of Political Science 58(4):1024-1042 (2014). [Download paper] [Online Appendix] [Policy brief]
“Influencing the Bureaucracy: The Irony of Congressional Oversight.” (with Joshua D. Clinton and Jennifer L. Selin), American Journal of Political Science 58(2):387-401 (2014). [Download paper] [Policy brief]
“Government Reform, Political Ideology, and Administrative Burden: The Case of Performance Management in the Bush Administration.” (with Stéphane Lavertu and Donald P. Moynihan) Public Administration Review 73(6):845-57 (2013). [Download paper] [Policy brief]
“Policy Influence, Agency-Specific Expertise, and Exit in the Federal Service.” (with Anthony M. Bertelli) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 23(2):223-245 (2013). [Download paper] [Policy brief]
“Politics Can Limit Policy Opportunism in Fiscal Institutions: Evidence from Official General Fund Revenue Forecasts in the American States.” (with George A. Krause and James Douglas) Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 32(2):271-95 (2013). [Download paper] [Online Appendix]
“The Invisible Presidential Appointments: An Examination of Appointments to the Department of Labor, 2001-2011.” (with Richard W. Waterman) Presidential Studies Quarterly 43 (1): 35-57 (2013). [Download paper]
“The Personnel Process in the Modern Presidency.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 42(3):577-96 (2012). [Download paper]
“Separated Powers in the United States.” (with Joshua D. Clinton, Anthony M. Bertelli, Christian Grose, and David C. Nixon) American Journal of Political Science 56(2):341-54 (2012). [Download paper] [Online Appendix]
“The Consequences of Presidential Patronage for Agency Performance.” (with Nick Gallo) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 22(2): 219-243 (2012). [Download paper] [Supplementary material] [Policy brief]
“Presidential Appointments and Personnel.” Annual Review of Political Science 14 (June):47-66 (2011). [Download paper]
“Measurement and Public Service Motivation: New Insights, Old Questions.” International Public Management Journal 13(1):1-10 (2010). [Download paper]
“Modern Presidents and the Transformation of the Federal Personnel System.” The Forum, 7(4): Article 6 (2010). [Download paper]
“Revisiting the Administrative Presidency: Policy, Patronage, and Administrative Competence.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 39 (1):60-73 (2009). [Download paper]
“Management and Leadership Performance in the Defense Department: Evidence from Surveys of Federal Employees.” (with Major Paul S. Oh, U.S. Army) Armed Forces and Society 34(4): 639-661 (2008). [Download paper] [Online appendix] [Policy brief]
“Not-So Independent Agencies: Party Polarization and the Limits of Institutional Design.” (with Neal Devins) Boston University Law Review 88(2):459-98 (2008). [Download paper]
“Expert Opinion, Agency Characteristics, and Agency Preferences.” (with Joshua D. Clinton) Political Analysis 16(1):3-16 (2008). [Download paper]
“Toward a Broader Understanding of Presidential Power: A Re-Evaluation of the Two Presidencies Thesis.” (with Brandice Canes-Wrone and William G. Howell) Journal of Politics 70(1):1-16 (2008). [Download paper] [Online appendix]
“Testing Pendleton’s Premise: Do Political Appointees Make Worse Bureaucrats?” Journal of Politics 69(4):1073-88 (2007). [Download paper] [Online appendix]
“Does Performance Budgeting Work? An Examination of OMB’s PART Scores.” (with John B. Gilmour) Public Administration Review 66(5):742-52 (2006). [Download paper]
“Political Appointments, Civil Service Systems, and Bureaucratic Competence: Organizational Balancing and Gubernatorial Revenue Forecasts in the American States.” (with George Krause and James Douglas) American Journal of Political Science 50(3):770-87 (2006). [Download paper]
“Assessing Performance Budgeting at OMB: The Influence of Politics, Performance, and Program Size.” (with John B. Gilmour) Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16(2):169-86 (2006). [Download paper]
“Political Appointees and the Competence of Federal Program Management.” (with John B. Gilmour) American Politics Research 34(1):22-50 (2006). [Download paper] [Policy brief]
“Staffing Alone: Unilateral Action and the Politicization of the Executive Office of the President, 1988-2004.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 35(3):496-514 (2005). [Download paper]
“Political Learning from Rare Events: Poisson Inference, Fiscal Constraints and the Lifetime of Bureaus.” (with Daniel C. Carpenter) Political Analysis 12(3):201-32 (2004). [Download paper]
“The Adverse Consequences of the Politics of Agency Design for Presidential Management in the United States: The Relative Durability of Insulated Agencies.” British Journal of Political Science 34:377-404 (2004). [Download paper]
“The Irrational Escalation of Commitment and the Ironic Labor Politics of the Rust Belt.” (with Glenn Beamer) Enterprise and Society 4(4):676-306 (2003). [Download paper]
“Agencies by Presidential Design.” (with William G. Howell) Journal of Politics 64(4):1095-1114 (2002). [Download paper]
“The Politics of Agency Termination: Confronting the Myth of Agency Immortality.” Journal of Politics 64(1):89-107 (2002). [Download paper]
“What Time Is It? The Use of Power in Four Different Types of Presidential Time.” (with James Michael Strine) Journal of Politics 58(3):682-706 (1996). [Download paper]