Working Papers

The following are in various stages of completion. If you have any questions, please email me.

Do We Encourage Citizenship: Social Studies Curricula in the Various States	In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance dictated that in order encourage good character in its citizens, territories would have to have a school. Thus public education in this country has been in the business of training citizens since its inception. The Utah State Legislature just passed a bill that will require more civics education in secondary education. I am exploring whether good citizenship is encouraged with this new expectation.
Rural Politics	About twenty percent of Americans live in what is defined as a rural area, but not a lot of political science research has been done to understand their politics. Beginning with Utah as a case study, I am trying to flesh out the idea of rural politics in its many variations. How are rural voters different from urban and suburban ones? Are those differences important and are all rural voters the same? These are the questions I am exploring in this research.
Democracy re/Designed	The American Association for State Colleges and University’s (AASCU’s) Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE), is studying what democracy means to the next generation of citizens. As part of this project, we are conducting focus groups across the nation to see what college students think democracy is as well as what they think it should be.
Utah Elections	With colleagues at Utah State University and Brigham Young University, I am examining what would make Utah voters feel their elections are secure. Recent claims about elections have led to some questioning the results of elections.