Biography
Education
Ph.D. (2015), University of Oklahoma, “The Politics of Partisan Issue Attention: Connecting Congress and Policy Subsystems”
M.A. (2011), Political Science, Western Michigan University
B.A. (2009), Political Science, Fort Hays State University
Courses Taught
155 – American Political Institutions
361 – Introduction to Public Policy
372 – Principle and Methods of Political Science
405 – The Process of Public Policy Formation
443 – The Legislative Process
540E – Seminar in American Government and Politics
Selected Publications and Presentations
“Identifying the Causes of Issue Attention and Policy Change: Evidence from U.S. Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Policy, 2008” in Review of Policy Research (forthcoming in 2017)
“Assessing Minority Party Influence on Partisan Issue Attention in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1989-2012” in Party Politics (available online - forthcoming in 2017)
“Divided Government and Delay in the Legislative Process: Evidence from Important Bills, 1949-2010” with Deven Carlson in American Politics Research, Vol. 43 (2015): 771-792.
“President Obama, the Senate, and the Polarized Politics of Treaty Making” with Jeffrey S. Peake and Glen S. Krutz in Social Science Quarterly, Vol 93 (2012): 1295-1315.
Research Interests
Professor Hughes’s research focuses on American political institutions and the public policy process, with a particular interest in energy and environmental policy. His current research project analyses the effects of partisan agenda setting on specific policy issues in the U.S. Congress.