I am Professor of Law, Political Science, and Public Policy at USC Gould School of Law.  I teach Administrative Law, Money in Politics, and Analytical Methods for Lawyers.  I have also taught at University of Chicago School of Law. 

My research centers around our efforts to improve public governance via information provision. The public can extract information from all branches of government, though we usually think of transparency as affecting the executive branch most severely.  My current projects center on the transparency of campaign financing for elected officials in the legislature. Campaign finance disclosure is highly polarizing among political elites, but many of the arguments we hear about it aren't based in empirical facts. I'm doing my part to inform the debate.  

I'm asking the following questions right now. What are the benefits of knowing who funds our political candidates?  Does knowledge about who funds our candidates help us make more "informed" votes?  What does it tell us about legislators' performance once in office?  Should we be worried about a "chilling" effect from disclosure (the court definitely is)?  Does disclosure actually "thaw" contributions by attracting contributors who want to align themselves publicly with candidates?  

My research appears or is forthcoming in American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, Political Behavior, Election Law Journal, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Political Research Quarterly, Public Choice, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, and several law reviews, such as New York University Law Review, Emory Law Review, and Southern California Law Review. It has been featured in Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

I also serve the public. I am currently a Commissioner on the California Fair Political Practices Commission and a youth basketball coach.

I hold a Ph.D. from the Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, a J.D. from Harvard and a M.A.L.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.  Before starting my teaching career, I clerked for Hon. John T. Noonan, Jr., on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

This website explains more about my research and teaching.