About

I am an “All But Dissertation” (ABD) candidate for PhD in American Politics at Binghamton University’s Political Science department. My research focuses on how electoral competition shapes representation in modern legislatures, especially the U.S. House. For the past year I have been working on collecting data on House member perquisite use as part of my dissertation. My interest in representation, elections, and legislatures is in part inspired by my five years experience as a campaign operative prior to entering academia.

Research Topics and Working Papers

Congressional Behavior

In American Politics there is no federal politician closer to the people than the members of the U.S. House. There is also no other federal politician who faces as tight of a time constraint as House members; upon taking office members have between 669 and 675 days before they face another election. This makes the question of how House members spend their time in office an intensely interesting one.

  • How do members allocate their limited time across their vast array of resources?
    • Paper: “Franking Privilege and Electoral Threat in the U.S. House” (Presented at the APSA 2024 Annual Meeting)

Elections

Elections are at the heart of my research agenda. Anthony Downs said that “Elections force politicians to regard some individuals as more important than others”. My research examines the downstream implications of this fundamental truth.

  • How do the “rules of the game” impact the fairness of the outcome?
    • Paper: “Constituency Size, Geographic Sorting, and the Perpetuation of Bias in Single-Member Districts” with Dan Magleby and Gregory Robinson (Unpublished manuscript)
  • When do elections improve the quality of governance? When do they lower it?

Voting Behavior

Understanding the public’s behavior in elections is integral to understanding the behvaior of public officials. Together these two groups form a reciprocal relationship with each affecting the behavior of others.

  • How does being electorally pivotal impact voters’ quality of life?
  • Do voter perceptions match empirical realities?
    • Paper: “Presidential Copartisanship and Evaluations of the U.S. Economy” (seminar paper, 3rd year)

Contact

Institution Email: TClarke3@Binghamton.edu
Personal Email: ProfeTyler@Gmail.com
Twitter: https://x.com/TWC_OrganEyes
Bing Poli Sci: https://www.binghamton.edu/political-science/