My research works at the intersection of political institutions and political behavior, on race and American democracy. I ask why, after more than two centuries of democratic development, the United States has still not consolidated into a multiracial democracy, and I locate the answer in power, in how democratic institutions distribute it across racial groups and in the gap between formal inclusion and genuinely shared power. My work moves from diagnosis to design, tracing how racial exclusion has been built into American political development and testing how institutional and electoral design might build coalitions among groups with competing interests. I pursue this through work on democratic development, racialized political behavior, electoral reform, and measurement.
Multiracial Democracy and Racial Exclusion
Herrenvolk Democracy: Race, Exclusion, and the American Political Order
Book project
This book project examines racial exclusion as a central feature of American democratic development. It argues that democratic institutions in the United States have been built around racialized boundaries of membership, representation, and power. The project traces how those boundaries have shaped the American political order from the founding to the present.
“Democracy for Whom? Herrenvolk Democracy and the American Founding”
Forthcoming, PS: Political Science & Politics
This article examines the founding era as a critical period in the development of herrenvolk democracy. It shows how early American democratic institutions organized political membership through racial exclusion, with particular attention to the relationship between democracy, citizenship, and the 1790 Naturalization Act.
“The Power-Sharing Index and the Boundaries of Democracy”
Manuscript in preparation
This paper introduces the Power-Sharing Index, a measure of group-centered democratic power-sharing built from V-Dem indicators. It tests whether formal democratic institutions correspond to shared political power across the groups that constitute the people.
Racialized Political Behavior
“The Myth of the Zero-Sum: Rethinking Acculturation in American Politics”
Revise and resubmit, Politics, Groups, and Identities
This paper challenges the assumption that immigrants face a zero-sum choice between adopting American culture and preserving heritage culture. Using the 2006 Latino National Survey, it shows that most Latinos occupy hybrid acculturation positions, including biculturalism, that conventional binary models overlook.
APSA Preprint ⏐ GitHub Code ⏐ Harvard Dataverse Replication Data
“Acculturation, Identity, and Latino Politics”
Under review
This paper traces how acculturation shapes Latino political behavior. It shows that different acculturation orientations (biculturalism, demiculturalism, culture-affirming, and assimilationist) produce distinct political profiles, especially on issues tied to immigration, belonging, and democratic membership.
APSA Preprint ⏐ GitHub Code ⏐ Harvard Dataverse Replication Data
“Why Groups Diverge: Latino Support for Trump, 2016–2024”
Presented at MPSA 2026; Manuscript in preparation
This paper analyzes Latino support for Trump across the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections to better understand intragroup political heterogeneity. Using random forest models and SHAP-based interpretation, it identifies recurring patterns organized around racial justice backlash, immigration restriction, and punitive law-and-order attitudes. The paper shows how political cross-pressures help explain Latino conservatism within a racialized political context.
APSA Preprint ⏐ GitHub Code (work in progress)
“Latino Support for Trump in 2024: Trends and Insights from an Empirical Analysis”
Published, Political Science Now, APSA 2024 Post-Election Reflection Series, with Luis Fraga
This essay assesses Latino support for Trump in the 2024 election. It situates recent patterns within broader debates about Latino conservatism, partisan incorporation, and intragroup political heterogeneity.
Electoral Reform and Institutional Design
“Power-Sharing Reform and the Behavioral Foundations of Multiracial Democracy”
Current research program
This project asks when electoral and institutional designs open ground for coalition across racial groups and when they harden division. It develops behavioral measures, validated electoral-system vignettes, and experimental evidence to test how design shapes representation, racialized threat, efficacy, legitimacy, and support for shared power, building evidence meant to guide reform, not only interpret it. This is the center of my work as a Guinier Fellow at the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute at Harvard Law School.
“Wasted Votes and Political Power”
Manuscript in preparation
This paper develops an account of wasted votes as a question of political power, not only electoral efficiency. It asks how electoral rules shape representation, vote dilution, political competition, and democratic quality.
Measurement and Empirical Methods
“Learning From Survey Data: Random Forests, Feature Interpretation, and Political Behavior”
Manuscript in preparation
This paper develops a framework for using random forests, SHAP-based interpretation, and stability diagnostics in survey research. It is designed for studying individual-level political behavior when relationships are nonlinear, interactive, or poorly understood.