It turns out teaching the doctoral level of politics of public policy is much more work, and also harder, than I thought it would be.

From my now-distant college days, I think I have heard enough people say that young people need to be changemakers, agents, (policy / social) entrepreneurs, and whatnot.

Six Heuristics for AI Adoption in Government

Democracy, education, and faith have in common: they are all shared projects

My favorite policy book of the year is Reform as Process: Implementing Change in Public Bureaucracies by Martin Williams, Associate Professor of Organizational Studies at the University of Michigan.

We need full-stack policy scientists who can play the whole game

Unless I’m extremely tired, every night before going to bed I read books to my now eight-year-old daughter.

Six Heuristics for AI Adoption in Government

Spring 2026 How State and Local Governments Can Strengthen State Capacity Using AI and Data Science Artificial intelligence is rapidly entering government, creating both excitement and concern. Some w...

Think Clearly and Write Honestly

This and last year I was invited to speak on panels for graduate students considering careers outside the traditional academic job market at Berkeley (twice), Stanford, and USC.

Some memories fade as we grow older; others come into sharper focus.

These are things I’ve learned from one of the most original and prolific writers of our time.

This essay is a detour from my usual writing on politics and public policy. I guess that is fine sometimes.

How to End a Course So It Stays With Students

How AI tools are reshaping what policy students can build and show

Civic tech matters because it touches on this age-old, fundamental problem: how we can make policies work.

Good research questions are not always obvious. Here are three criteria I tend to use, based on my own taste and experience.

Epistemic Institutions and the Populism Dilemma: Reimagining Political Science as a Vocation amid Democratic Breakdown - Volume 24 Issue 1

Writer looked to topics such as computer engineering and life in a nursing home to produce richly researched books