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Education

Ph.D. Program, Political Science:  (EXPECTED) 2009

Duke University

• Dissertation - "A Party in the Conference Room: The Implications of Partisan Theories of Congress for Conference Committee Bargaining"

• Committee - David Rohde (chair), John Aldrich, Michael Munger, and Erik Engstrom

• M.A. (2005) - Fields: American Politics and Political Methodology

B.A. (cum laude), Political Science:  May 2001

Davidson College

         Thesis - "Strategizing Presidential Coattails in the 2000 Senate Campaigns"

         Minor - Mathematics

Published Work

Aldrich, John, Michael C. Brady, Scott de Marchi, Ian McDonald, Brendan Nyhan, David Rohde, and Michael Tofias. Forthcoming 2008 "Party and Constituency in the U.S. Senate, 1933-2004" in Why Not Parties?  Nathan W. Monroe, Jason M. Roberts, and David Rhode, eds., Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

McClain, Paula D., Niambi C. Carter, and Michael C. Brady. 2005. "Gender and Black Presidential Politics: From Chisholm to Moseley Braun." Women and Politics

McClain, Paula D., Michael C. Brady, Niambi M. Carter, Victoria S. DeFrancesco, and Efren O. Perez. 2005. "Rebuilding Black Voting Rights Before the Voting Rights Act," in The Voting Rights Act: Securing the Ballot, Richard M. Valley, ed.

Conference Participation

"Conference Committees and Partisanship in Pork Barrel Politics: An Exploration of Earmarks in Appropriations Bills from the 110th Congress." Presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association

"Liberal Values, Threat, and Rights Violations." with Ian McDonald, Brendan Nyhan, Jason Reifler, and John Transue. Prepared for the 2008 Annual Meeting of  the International Society of Political Psychology.

"Partisan Trends in Bicameral Negotiations: A roll-call analysis over time." Presented at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association

"When good predictions go bad: Vote context, win margins, and misclassified votes in the 75^th to 108^th Congresses." Presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association

"The Urge to Surge: Pre- and post-conference roll call shifts in Congress." Presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association

"Between and Rock and a Hard Place: Strategic Abstention and Vote Type in the U.S. Congress." with Ian McDonald. Presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association.

"A Party in the Conference Room: The Implications of Conditional Party Government on Conference Committee Bargaining." Prepared for a poster presentation at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

"The Dynamics of Partisan Behavior: CPG in the House and in the Districts 1982-2000." with John Aldrich, Scott de Marchi, Ian McDonald, Brendan Nyhan, David Rohde, and Michael Tofias. Presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association.

"Party and Constituency in the U.S. Senate 1933-2004." with John Aldrich, Scott de  Marchi, Ian McDonald, Brendan Nyhan, David Rohde, and Michael Tofias. Presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association and the 2006 "Party in the Senate" Conference at Duke University.

"Left versus Rights? Liberal Values, Threat, and Rights Violations." with John Transue, Ian McDonald, and Brendan Nyhan. Presented at the American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, Sept. 1-4, 2005.

"Predicting Political Activism:  Four Models of Civic Involvement." with Dr. Mary Thornberry. Presented at the 2001 Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association.

Teaching Experience

Courses: 

The Development of Congress as an Institution , Duke University, Fall 2006

Teaching Assistantships: 

Introduction to American Politics, Fall 2007

Introduction to Statistical Methods (Ralph Bunche Summer Institute), 2005 - 2007

Liberty/Equality and the American Constitution, Spring 2007

Math and Models (Introductory Graduate Math Review), Fall 2005

Introduction to International Relations, Fall 2005

Research Experience

Research Assistantships: 

Professor David Rohde, Duke University, 2005 - present

Professor John Aldrich, Duke University, 2004 - 2006

Professors Michael Munger and Alexandra Cooper, Duke University, 2004 - 2006

Professor Paula D. McClain, Duke University, 2003 - 2005

Professors Jay Hamilton and Scott DeMarchi, Duke University, Summer 2004

Professor Mary Thornberry, Davidson College, 2000 - 2001