My dissertation examines nonelectoral drivers of legislative behavior in Latin America. In particular, I consider congressmen's strong interest in and concern for the actual content of public policy as an alternative explanation for behavior in the region. I adopt a mixed-methods approach that combines statistical within-country time-series analysis with semi-structured interviews and process-tracing of policy activity in Brazil and Mexico across two issue areas: education and public security.

My research also explores other topics in legislative politics and budgeting. My paper "Budgetary Change in Authoritarian and Democratic Regimes" (co-authored with Frank R. Baumgartner, Marcello Carammia, Derek A. Epp, and Tevfik Murat Yildirim) can be read at the Journal of European Public Policy. I also published "Horizontal Social Movements and Agenda-Setting: Evidence from Brazil" at Agenda Política. Working papers include "Candidate Selection Methods for the Chamber of Deputies: A Study of New Parties in Mexico," co-authored with Matthew R. Cleary, and "Across the Great Divide: Reconnecting the Policy Literature with Comparative Politics and International Relations," co-authored with Jason Blessing.

I also work with the Brazilian Policy Agendas, which investigates trends in policymaking across time in the country and is a part of the Comparative Agendas Project.