I am an assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas at El Paso. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio and my doctoral degree from Texas A&M University. My areas of interest are presidential management, presidential-bureaucratic policy making, the public presidency, presidential-congressional relations, and studies on immigration policy and Latino/a politics. I am currently serving as a member of the board of directors for the Presidents & Executive Politics (PEP) section of the American Political Science Association and as the group's website manager. I also serve as faculty senator for the political science department at UTEP, as a member of the Student Enhancement and External Relations (SEER) committee, and as the department's website manager.
Articles
Agency Input as a Policy Making Tool: Analyzing the Influence of Agency Input on Presidential Policy Success in Congress, Administration & Society (forthcoming) (2012)
Politics or Policy? How Rhetoric Matters to Presidential Leadership of Congress (with Justin S. Vaughn and Julia R. Azari), Presidential Studies Quarterly (forthcoming) (2012)
Manager-in-Chief: Applying Public Management Theory to Examine White House Chief of Staff Performance (with David B. Cohen and Justin S. Vaughn), Political Research Quarterly (forthcoming) (2012)
Agenda Setting from the Oval Office: An Experimental Examination of Presidential Influence over the Public Agenda (with Cigdem V. Sirin), International Journal of Public Opinion Research (forthcoming) (2012)
Staff of the People? Assessing Progress in Descriptive Representation under the Obama Administration, Race, Gender & Class (2011)
Book Chapters
Sitting with Oprah, Dancing with Ellen: Presidents, Daytime Television, and Soft News, Gendering the Presidency: Gender, Presidential Politics, and Popular Culture (forthcoming) (2012)
James A. Garfield: 20th President of the United States, Chronology of the U.S. Presidency (forthcoming) (2012)
The Policy Czar Debate (with Justin S. Vaughn), The Obama Presidency: A Preliminary Assessment (forthcoming) (2012)
When Made to Choose: Cross-Pressured Republican Senators and George W. Bush’s Private Account Plan, A Dialogue on Presidential Challenges and Leadership (2006)
Other Publications
Revolt Against the Czars: Why Barack Obama’s Staffing Critics Are (Mostly) Wrong (with Justin S. Vaughn), Presidency Research Group Report (2010)
Immigration (as a campaign issue), Encyclopedia of Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior (2008)
Presidential Election of 1980, Encyclopedia of Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior (2008)
Book Reviews
The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity (2010), by Cristina Beltrán, Reviewed in Camino Real (forthcoming) (2012)
Beyond the Barrio: Latinos in the 2004 Elections (2010), by Rodolfo O. de la Garza, Louis DeSipio, and David L. Leal (Eds.), Reviewed in the Bulletin of Latin American Research (forthcoming) (2012)