About Me
I’m an Associate Professor of at , where I focus my research on American political institutions, elections and foreign policy. My most recent book is (Melville House Publishing, 2020), which explores how long-term trends in voting by different generations will benefit Democrats. In April 2018 I published a book on progressive power and American institutional reform called . The New York Times "a short, bracing polemic." The Guardian , "American democracy could disappear altogether within our own lifetimes.
My first book, (I.B. Tauris, 2013)– focused on the use of digital media by Egyptian opposition movements. With Babak Rahimi, I am the co-editor of and contributor to (SUNY Press). My academic work has been published in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Middle East Policy, Arab Media & Society and Politique Etrangèr,
In addition to my academic work, I am a , an international journal of news and opinion, as well as the Middle East-focused blog . I’ve also published op-eds with , , , , USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, NPR.org, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Daily News Egypt, the Philadelphia Citypaper, the Philadelphia Inquirer and more. I've made television appearances on MSNBC, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Lincoln Project TV, Fox News, and Politics Tonight. I've also appeared on dozens of podcasts and radio shows, including Chapo Trap House, The Mitch Albom Show, The Battleground, Background Briefing, The Brad Friedman Show and The Ben Joravsky Show, and have been interviewed by Vox, Five Thirty Eight, Politico, Al-Jazeera English, NBC News, Chicago Monthly, Texas Monthly, Pacific Standard and more.
Outside of the classroom, you can probably catch me hanging out with my wife and 3-year-old son, seeing a baseball game, playing Texas Hold ‘Em, making stews, seeing a concert, toying with my fantasy baseball teams, galavanting around the world, or spending my spare money on food.
- U.S. elections
Election processes, voter rights, midterm and presidential election trends, democratic backsliding, Constitutional hardball
- Comparative electoral systems
Proportional representation, presidential and parliamentary systems, voting procedures
- American foreign policy in the Middle East
The Arab-Israeli conflict, Saudi-Iranian rivalry, Egyptian politics, Syrian civil war
- PhD Political Science — University of Pennsylvania