Classes I Teach

This course introduces students to the many facets of the U.S. Congress-asking "what does congress do and why?" In so doing it provides students with a set of tools useful for understanding how institutions create incentives for behavior. Some of the many topics we will examine include: congressional elections, the role of political parties and interest groups in the lawmaking and elections, how the organization of Congress affects lawmaking, and issues of representation accountability.

Course Evaluations: The following are verbatim recordings of the student comments on the Narrative Course Evaluation Forms that I received. Every response is included (i.e., no "cherry-picking" to include only the best responses) and there is no order to the recorded responses. I find them interesting (if not marginally informative).

Spring 2008 (PDF)

Spring 2007 (PDF)

Fall 2004 (PDF)

Fall 2003 (PDF)

Spring 2003 (PDF)

Over-time (2003-2008) Summary Statistics (PDF)

My first semester at Princeton I precepted (Princeton-ese for discussion leader) for Introduction to American Politics taught by Nolan McCarty.

Course Evaluations: The following are verbatim recordings of the student comments on the Narrative Course Evaluation Forms that I received. Every response is included (i.e., no "cherry-picking" to include only the best responses) and there is no order to the recorded responses. I find them interesting (if not marginally informative). I am unsure where the statistical summary is.

Spring 2002 (PDF)

Junior Workshop Congressional Representation

F2002, F2003

This workshop aims to introduce participants to research in the many areas associated with representation in U.S. Congress. This is a broad, but very important topic, and we will consider research related to the linkage between representatives and their constituents, how institutions such as committees, political parties, and electoral arrangements affect the relationship, and what it is that we mean by "representation." Some potential research topics include: understanding what we mean by "representation," assessing the relationship between constituents and their representatives, issues of racial and gender parity and virtual representation, assessing how institutional differences in the House and the Senate affect representation, understanding the influence of political parties, and considering the impact of gerrymandering. Many research strategies for addressing such research questions will be entertained, including: quantitative methods, normative and game theoretic approaches, and qualitative methods. In this workshop we will strive to produce research in which the question addressed either develops or is informed by theoretical understandings. In so doing, we will explore how to move from a broad area of interest to a specific question, as well as how to make and present an argument.

Politics 571: Quantitative Methods I

S2007, S2005, S2004, S2003

[Old Description] The use of quantitative methodology for both describing the political environment and testing theoretically derived hypotheses about the political environment is pervasive in political science. This course aims to prepare students to: model the political environment using econometric/statistical models, understand the theoretical foundations of commonly used methods, understand the tradeoffs and assumptions one makes in using econometric/statistical models, and provide the tools needed to begin to learn methods not explicitly covered in class. The class emphases the properties, estimation and potential problems of linear regression models and their use in conducting statistical inference of substantive problems. Non-linear dichotomous choice models (e.g., logit and probit) are also introduced. The class relies primarily on the method of least squares, although estimation via maximum likelihood are introduced at the end. The class prepares students for Politics 572.

Course Evaluations: The following are the course evaluations as received from the registrar. Only the responses from Spring 2007 are available -- the department office lost/misplaced the evaluations from earlier years. In Spring 2007, the overall average for Politics grad classes at Princeton was 4.48; the overall average for Pol571 was 4.61.

Spring 2007 (PDF)

Earlier (Available) Evaluations (PDF)

2007 Summary Statistics: 5 point scale (PDF)

A (brief) introduction to the wonderful world of LaTeX.