I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati. I research the intersection of politics, religion, and law in America, with an expertise in Evangelicals and politics, church-state relations, conservative legal activism, and rights politics. My research engages with the themes of representation and American constitutionalism, through a variety of lenses. My book The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars (Cambridge, 2017) documents the rise of rights politics within conservative Christian politics and the important role that the pro-life movement has played in that process, as well as the integration of the Christian Right into the broader Republican Party. It was awarded the 2018 American Political Science Association’s Hubert Morken Award for the Best Book on Religion and Politics.

I am currently writing two book manuscripts:

The polarization of religious freedom in the U.S.
The mobilization of Christian nationalism in the U.S. (under contract with Cambridge’s Elements series)

My work has appeared in a variety of social science journals, as well as popular outlets, including:

The New York Times
The Atlantic
The Washington Post
USA Today
FiveThirtyEight

I also serve as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal Politics & Religion.

Research Interests

Religion and Politics
Politics of Law
Interest Groups and Advocacy
First Amendment Law
Public Opinion

Research Profile

Google Scholar