I am a political scientist working at the intersection of political institutions and political behavior, with a focus on power, racialization, and American democracy. My research asks why, after more than two centuries of democratic development, the United States has yet to consolidate into a multiracial democracy. I locate the answer in how democratic institutions distribute power across racial groups and in the persistent gap between formal inclusion and genuinely shared power.

I am currently the Guinier Fellow at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School. At Harvard, I am advancing a flagship project on the institutional foundations of multiracial democracy. This project asks how electoral systems shape political behavior and intergroup attitudes, and under what conditions proportional representation and other alternative electoral systems can reduce racial animus, strengthen tolerance, and promote healthier democratic politics.

I am also continuing work on my book project, Herrenvolk Democracy: Race, Exclusion, and the American Political Order. The book traces American political development from the colonial period to the present and argues that racial exclusion has been a durable feature of American democracy. It shows how political institutions, including the courts, have repeatedly foreclosed openings for multiracial democracy. I also developed the Power-Sharing Index to measure the extent to which democratic institutions distribute political power across groups. My related article, “Democracy for Whom? Herrenvolk Democracy and the American Founding,” is forthcoming in PS: Political Science & Politics.

My empirical work uses machine learning to better understand political behavior, including why Latinos support Trump and how that support has changed across recent elections.

Background

I was born and raised on the South Side of Tucson, Arizona. I began my higher education at Pima Community College before transferring to the University of Arizona, where I earned a B.A. in Government and Public Policy, magna cum laude. I was also awarded the Robie Gold Medal. I later earned my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, where I was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.