The Rose Institute stresses a high level of interaction between students and faculty. In their research on state and local government, students and faculty work side by side. Students receive guidance and instruction from professors, and research affiliates experienced in the operations of both the public and private sectors.
Faculty Advisors
Andrew Busch
Crown Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow, CMC
andrew.busch@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3382 | Kravis Center 236
Dr. Andrew Busch (B.A. University of Colorado-Boulder, M.A. and Ph.D. University of Virginia) is Crown Professor of Government and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. He served as Director of the Rose Institute of State and Local Government from January 2011 to June 2021. He has authored or co-authored fifteen books on American politics, including The Rules and Politics of American Primaries (2020), A Brief History of Public Policy Since the New Deal (2019), Epic Journey: The 2008 Elections and American Politics, Revised post-midterm election version (2011) and The Constitution on the Campaign Trail: The Surprising Political Career of America’s Founding Document (2007), along with more than thirty articles and chapters. In 2007, he received a Fulbright fellowship to lecture on American politics at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine and served as the Ann and Herbert Vaughan Fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University in the 2009-2010 academic year.
Michael Fortner
Associate Professor | Government Department, CMC
mfortner@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3868 | Kravis Center 246
Michael Javen Fortner is an Associate Professor of Government. He is also a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center in Washington, D.C. His work studies the intersection of American political development and political philosophy—particularly in the areas of race, ethnicity, and class. He is the author of Black Silent Majority: The Rockefeller Drug Laws and the Politics of Punishment (Harvard University Press, 2015), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and winner of the New York Academy of History’s Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in New York History. Along with Amy Bridges, he edited a volume on city politics, Urban Citizenship and American Democracy (SUNY Press, 2016). He has also been published in The New York Times, Boston Globe, Newsweek, and Dissent magazine, and his research has been covered in major media outlets, such as the Atlantic, The New York Times, the New Yorker, New York Magazine, the Daily Beast, Time, and NPR.
Emily S. Pears
Assistant Professor | Government Department, CMC
epears@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3803 | Kravis Center 243
Dr. Emily Pears (B.A. Claremont McKenna College; M.A. and Ph.D. University of Virginia) is an Assistant Professor of Government at Claremont McKenna College. Her research focus is in the areas of 19th century U.S. federalism, American political development, American nationalism, and U.S. state-building. She previously worked as a policy advocate for voting rights and redistricting reform issues in San Francisco and Sacramento.
Shanna Rose
Tuohy Associate Professor of Government and Management | Government Department, CMC
srose@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3387 | Kravis Center 216
Dr. Shanna Rose (B.A., Swarthmore College; Ph.D., Harvard University) is an Associate Professor at Claremont McKenna College, teaching American politics, public policy, and research methods. Her research focuses on budget policy, health policy, and federalism. Among her published works are Financing Medicaid: Federalism and the Growth of America’s Health Care Safety Net (University of Michigan Press, 2013) and “The State of American Federalism 2014-2015: Pathways to Policy in an Era of Party Polarization” with Cynthia Bowling (Publius: The Journal of Federalism 45(3), 2015). For her exceptional service on a number of CMC committees, ranging from membership on the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees and the search committee for a new Dean of the Faculty to work on emergency pandemic child/dependent care, CMC awarded Dr. Rose the 2021 Roy P. Crocker Award for Service. Professor Rose is also serving as the director of the Policy Lab.
J. Andrew Sinclair
Assistant Professor of Government, CMC
asinclair@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3649
Andrew Sinclair’s research focuses on American politics, with a particular emphasis on political reform. He is a co-author, along with Michael Alvarez, of Nonpartisan Primary Election Reform: Mitigating Mischief (Cambridge University Press, 2015). Recent work has continued to examine electoral reforms and political behavior, including a paper coauthored with Betsy Sinclair: “Primaries and Populism: Voter Efficacy, Champions, and Election Rules” (Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, 2(3) 2021: 365-388). In addition, he has continued to examine the democratic aspects of reform in public administration, coauthoring with Maya Love and María Gutiérrez-Vera “Federalism, Defunding the Police, and Democratic Values: A Functional Accountability Framework for Analyzing Police Reform Proposals” (Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 51(3) 2021: 484-511). Professor Sinclair is a graduate of Claremont McKenna College’s class of 2008, with a B.A. in Mathematics and Government. Before returning to CMC as a member of the faculty he earned both his M.S. and Ph.D. in Social Science from Caltech and was a Clinical Assistant Professor at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
Other Faculty Affiliates
Joseph M. Bessette
Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor Government and Ethics | Government Department, CMC, Emeritus
jbessette@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3989 | Kravis Center 236
Dr. Joseph M. Bessette (B.S. Boston College, M.A. and Ph.D. University of Chicago) is an Alice Tweed Tuohy Professor of Government and Ethics at Claremont McKenna College. His areas of expertise include ethics and American democracy, the presidency, American politics, crime and criminal justice, and American constitutionalism. His publications include By Man Shall His Blood be Shed: A Catholic Defense of Capital Punishment, with Edward Feser (Ignatius Press, 2017), The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution, edited with Andrew Busch and Gary Schmitt (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017), American Government and Politics: Deliberation, Democracy, and Citizenship (Cengage/Wadsworth 2013), second edition; The Constitutional Presidency (Johns Hopkins University Press 2009); and The Mild Voice of Reason: Deliberative Democracy and American National Government (University of Chicago 1994).
Darren Filson
James G. Boswell Professor of Economics | Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, CMC
Director, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
darren.filson@cmc.edu | (909) 607-6796 | Bauer Center 325
Dr. Darren Filson (B.A. University of Saskatchewan, M.A. and Ph.D. University of Rochester) was named Director for the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in September 2020. Prior to this, he has served as the Academic Director of the Silicon Valley Program (2015) and the Director of Graduate Programs (2008) at Claremont McKenna College where he has been a member of the faculty since 2007. In addition to “Industrial Organization,” he has taught courses in the application of behavioral game theory, the economics of innovation, managerial economics, mathematical economics, sociological economics, and statistics, among many graduate-level courses in economics, game theory, and the application of these disciplines to life sciences. Among his published materials include Evaluating Mergers in the Presence of Dynamic Competition Using Impacts on Rivals with Saman Olfati and Fatos Radoniqi (Journal of Law and Economics 58:4 November 2015). In 2015 Dr. Filson received The Carol and Bruce Mallen Award for Lifetime Published Scholarly Contributions to Motion Picture Industry Economic Studies.
Eric Helland
William F. Podlich Professor of Economics | Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, CMC
eric.helland@cmc.edu | (909) 607-7275 | Bauer Center 305
Dr. Eric Helland (B.A. University of Missouri, M.A., and Ph.D. Washington University) is a William F. Podlich Professor of Economics at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Helland’s research primarily focuses on law and economics, microeconomics, business law, contract economics, and health economics. His publications include “Product Liability and Moral Hazard: Evidence from General Aviation” (Journal of Law and Economics 2012), How Much Should Judges be Paid? An Empirical Study on the Effect of Judicial Pay on the State Appellate Bench” (Stanford Law Review 2012), and “Bargaining in the Shadow of the Website: Disclosure’s Impact on Litigation Behavior” (American Law and Economics Review 2010).
Manfred Keil
Associate Professor | Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, CMC
manfred.keil@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3899 | Bauer Center 315
Dr. Manfred Keil (Zwischenprüfung, Goethe Universität, M.A. University of Texas, M.S. and Ph.D. London School of Economics) is an Associate Professor at the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Keil’s main areas of expertise include banking, comparative economic performance, macroeconomics, and statistics. His publications include “When Does Inflation Hurt Economic Growth? Different Nonlinearities for Different Economies” (Journal of Macroeconomics 2004), “Shrunken Earnings Predictions are Better Predictions” (Applied Financial Economics 2004), and “Uncovered Interest Rate Parity and Exchange Rate Regimes: Lessons from a Sample of East Asian Countries” (National University of Singapore 2008).
John J. Pitney, Jr.
Roy P. Crocker Professor of Politics | Government Department, CMC
jpitney@cmc.edu | (909) 607-4224 | Kravis Center 232
Dr. John Pitney (B.A. Union College; M.A., M. Phil, and Ph.D. Yale University) is the Roy P. Crocker Professor of Politics at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Pitney’s research primarily focuses on American and Californian politics, Congress, electoral politics, media politics, public policy, political advertising, and the Obama Administration. His publications include Congress’ Permanent Minority? Republics in the US House (Rowman and Littlefield 1994), The Art of Political Warfare (University of Oklahoma Press 2000), and After Hope and Change: The 2012 Elections and American Politics (Rowman and Littlefield 2013). Among other honors, Dr. Pitney is a two-time recipient of the Glenn R. Huntoon Teaching Award and received the Presidential Award in 2013.
Joshua G. Rosett
Curb Family Associate Professor of Business and Law | Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, CMC
jrosett@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3625 | Bauer Center 302
Dr. Joshua Rosett (B.A. University of Chicago, M.A., and Ph.D. Princeton University) is a Curb Family Associate Professor of Business and Law at Claremont McKenna College. Dr. Rosett’s primary area of expertise is in accounting. His publications in the field include “Equity Risk and the Labor Stock: The Case of Union Contracts” (Journal of Accounting Research 2001), “What Determines the Variability of Accounting Accruals?” (Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 2005), “Macroeconomic Variables and the E/P Ratio: Is Inflation Really Positively Associated with the E/P Ratio?” (Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting 2006).
Ralph A. Rossum
Salvatori Professor of American Constitutionalism | Government Department, CMC
rrossum@cmc.edu | (909) 607-3392 | Kravis Center 222
Dr. Ralph Rossum(B.A. Concordia College; M.A. and Ph.D. University of Chicago) has been a member of the Claremont McKenna College’s faculty since 1994. Dr. Rossum’s research primarily focuses on constitutional law, constitutional interpretation, the American founding, criminal justice and procedure, the Constitution, and Native American tribes. His publications include Understanding Clarence Thomas: The Jurisprudence of Constitutional Restoration (University Press of Kansas, 2014), American Constitutional Law. Volume I: The Structure of Government, Volume II: The Bill of Rights and Subsequent Amendments (Westview Press, 2014) ninth edition, and Antonin Scalia’s Jurisprudence Text and Tradition (University Press of Kansas, 2006).
Cameron Shelton
McMahon Family Associate Professor of Political Economy and George R. Roberts Fellow | Robert Day School of Economics and Finance, CMC
Director, Lowe Institute of Political Economy
cameron.shelton@cmc.edu | (909) 607-1692 | Bauer 320
Dr. Cameron Shelton (B.S. and A.B. Stanford University, Ph.D. Stanford Graduate School of Business) is an Assistant Professor at the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance. Dr. Shelton’s research primarily focuses on political economy, public choice, and public finance. His publications include “The Size and Composition of Government Spending?” (Journal of Public Economics 2007), “Elections and Political Risk: New Evidence from Political Prediction Markets in Taiwan” (Journal of Public Economics 2011), and “The Vicious Cycle: Fundraising and Perceived Viability in the US Presidential Primaries” (Quarterly Journal of Political Science 2012).
Rachel VanSickle-Ward
Associate Professor of Political Studies | Pitzer College
Rachel_VanSickle-Ward@pitzer.edu | (909) 607-4650 | Bernard 203
Rachel VanSickle-Ward (B.A. Pitzer College; M.A. and Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley) is an associate professor of Political Studies at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Her research interests include public policy, public law, and gender and politics. She has published work on the politics of statutory language, gender and political ambition, and administrative law. Her first book, The Devil is in the Details: Understanding the Causes of Policy Specificity and Ambiguity (SUNY Press, 2014), explores the impact of political and institutional fragmentation on policy wording, focusing on the dynamics of social policy construction in the states. Her writing has appeared in Talking Points Memo and The Washington Post (The Monkey Cage) and U.S News and World Report. She was named the 2012 Pitzer College Scholar in Residence for her research on contraception politics and policy.