Robert G. Boatright, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Political Science
Department of Poltical Science
Clark University
Worcester, MA 01610-1477
Phone: 508-793-7632
Email: rboatright@clarku.edu
Read Prof. Boatright's CV
Personal Website
Professor Boatright teaches courses on American political behavior, political parties, campaigns and elections, interest groups, political participation, and political theory. Professor Boatright has served as a research fellow at the Campaign Finance Institute, as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, and as a research associate at the American Judicature Society. He has published books and articles on campaign finance reform, congressional redistricting, the congressional budget process, and on various aspects of jury service. His most recent book, Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2011), considers the effects of changes in campaign finance law on interest groups’ political contributions and independent advocacy in the US and Canada during the past decade.
Current Research and Teaching
Professor Boatright is currently completing a book manuscript on primary challenges to incumbent members of Congress. Other current research interests include the financing of the 2012 election and the politics of the 2012 congressional redistricting. He is also the director of the Worcester Campaign Finance Project.
Selected Publications
Books
Getting Primaried: The Changing Politics of Congressional Primary Challenges. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, forthcoming).
Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2011)
Campaign Finance: The Problems and Consequences of Reform (editor). (New York: Open Society Institute/IDEA, 2011).
Expressive Politics: The Issue Strategies of Congressional Challengers (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 2004).
Articles
“Teaching Redistricting to Undergraduates: Letting the People Draw the Lines for the People's House.” With Nicholas Giner and James Gomes. Forthcoming, PS: Political Science & Politics.
“Interest Group Adaptations to Campaign Finance Reform in Canada and the United States.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 42 (1): 17-43 (2009).
“Who are the Spatial Voting Violators?” Electoral Studies 27 (1): 116-125 (2008).
“Situating the New 527 Groups in Interest Group Theory.” The Forum 5 (2) (2007).
“Does Publicizing A Tax Credit for Political Contributions Increase Its Use? Results from a Randomized Field Experiment.” With Donald P. Green and Michael J. Malbin. American Politics Research 34 (4): 563-82 (2006).
“Can I Win Next Time? Strategic Repeat Challengers in House Races.” With Andrew J. Taylor. Political Research Quarterly 58 (4): 609-617 (2005).
“Political Contribution Tax Credits and Citizen Participation.” With Michael J. Malbin. American Politics Research. 33 (6): 787-817 (2005).
“Static Ambition: Legislators’ Preparations for Redistricting.” State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4 (4): 436-54 (2004).
Book Chapters
"Campaign Finance Reform and the Democratic Deficit in the United States,” in Imperfect Democracies: The Democratic Deficit in Canada and the United States, ed. Richard Simeon and Patti Lenard (Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press, forthcoming).
“Lessons for Canada from the American Campaign Finance Reform Experience,” in Party and Election Finance: Consequences for Democracy, ed. Lisa Young and Harold Jansen (Vancouver, BC: University of British Columbia Press, 2011).
"The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Citizens United Decision," in Interest Groups Unleashed, ed. Chris Deering, Paul Herrnson, and Clyde Wilcox (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 2011).
“Regulating and Reforming Group-Based Electioneering,” in Congressional Quarterly Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the United States, ed. Burdett Loomis (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 2011).
“Financing the 2008 Elections,” in The Election of 2008, ed. Steven E. Schier and Janet Box-Steffensmeier (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009), 137-160.
“Fundraising: Present and Future,” in Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, ed. Richard Semiatin (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2008), 10-26. Second edition forthcoming.
“Adaptations and Alliances: Strategic Decisionmaking by Ongoing Interest Groups and Advocacy Organizations,” with Michael J. Malbin, Mark J. Rozell, and Clyde Wilcox, in The Election After Reform, ed. Michael J. Malbin (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2006), 112-138.
“BCRA’s Impact on Interest Groups and Advocacy Organizations,” with Michael J. Malbin, Mark J. Rozell, and Clyde Wilcox, in Life After Reform: When the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act Meets Politics, ed. Michael J. Malbin (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 43-60.