Research

Alex's research areas include Congress, political negotiation, policy change, American Political Development, and American Political Thought. His work builds on William Riker's concept of heresthetic as an important tool for understanding how politicians attempt to win on a given issue.  During the summers of 2022 and 2023, Alex worked on his book while at the Library of Congress as a Fellow in Congressional Policymaking. 


His current book project builds a theory for overcoming inactive legislative inertia by conducting in-depth case studies related to race and civil rights in America. The role of strategic voting and dimension manipulation is highlighted in these cases as new voting coalitions are formed. In addition to applying Riker's theory to case studies, process tracing reveals the normative implications of using these tactics to overcome stalemate. As the motive behind heresthetic tactics is to win - or avoid one's least preferred outcome - adopting these strategies includes trade-offs in policy content. A video of his talk at the Library of Congress is available on the Library of Congress YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYYs8VzihE&list=PL8FA0A3359E858D1A&index=1 


Alex has published peer-reviewed articles in Public Choice and the Journal of Political Science Education, and has presented at the Congress & History Conference, American University's Understanding Legislative Negotiation Conference, and other conferences.