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About Me

I am a PhD candidate in the political science department. I came to UCLA after receiving my masters of science in economics from the University of Texas at Austin and then teaching introductory micro and macroeconomics for one year at a community college in San Antonio, TX. Before I attended UT Austin, I receive my BA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in political science and minored in economics and mathematics.

American Politics

Much of my research involves American topics. My current dissertation project analyzes when it is rational for a faction of a political party to break away and form its own. I use a probabilistic spatial voting model where factions are policy seeking. I determine when it is rational for a faction to break away and form its own party.

Also, some of my work analyzes the distributive politics of American presidential elections, and I'm also interested in studying pork barrel politics in general. I also study government spending (including special interests in budgeting politics) and political economy in general.

Formal Theory

Currently, my research includes the spatial modeling of party competition and party systems. To find Nash equilibrium party positions, I use computational methods. I also do research in comparative electoral systems using simulation methods of spatial preferences. One of my great strengths is teaching game theory and social choice theory, and I give an example of this in my textbook found on my Teaching page.