1. law, govt and politics
2. politics

Michael Parrott
3 P ST, SW Apt. 2
Washington DC, 20024
Telephone: (202) 499-9017
Email: [email protected]
EDUCATION
University of Maryland, PhD expected May 2016 (American Politics and Quantitative Methods)
Research Interests include Congress, Interest Groups, and Money and Politics
Dissertation: Group Influence via Constituency Representation: Rethinking Who Wins, Who Loses,
and Why.
This project analyzes how the distribution of organized interests across constituencies affects
their representation in Congress. I am interested in determining how and why some groups are
advantaged in terms of their representation on key committees in Congress. I argue that if we
reconceive of organized interests as being a unique part of each representative’s constituency as
well as having a varied presence across districts, then the causal story for influence becomes
much different.
After identifying all the organized interests active in lobbying on three landmark laws in the
111th Congress (covering energy, financial regulation, and health care), I assemble an original
database identifying how all these interests are distributed across the country (as in, precisely
where they have firms, employees, and members). I find that organized interests with a local
presence in more districts generate more legislative allies than organized interests with a local
presence in fewer districts. Organized interests that generate greater numbers of legislative allies
as a result of constituency presence are systematically overrepresented (relative to their presence
in the country at large) on committees that are central to their policy agendas in the House of
Representatives. In addition I find that some types of constituencies are systematically more
likely to be overrepresented on key committees than others. Business interests, for example, are
far more likely to be overrepresented on committees (relative to their presence in the country as a
whole) than other types of organized interests. Through these and other results, this study offers a
new approach, new data, and new empirical findings about which interests win, which interests
lose, and why in the legislative process.
Dissertation Advisor: Frances Lee
Fordham University, MA in Political Science, May 2009, Qualifying examinations and
concentration in American politics.
Master’s Thesis: Manufacturing Placement as a Tool of Political Influence.
Analyzed economic data in congressional districts and presented evidence that defense
corporations were strategically placing manufacturing establishments to maximize political
leverage.
University of Texas at Austin, BA, Triple-major in Political Science, Psychology, and Philosophy,
Graduated with honors, 2004.
Publications and Working Papers
Gimpel, James G., Frances E. Lee, and Michael Parrott. "Business Interests and the Party
Coalitions - Industry Sector Contributions to US Congressional Campaigns." American Politics
Research 42, no. 6 (2014): 1034-1076.
Rouse, Stella M., Michele Swers, and Michael Parrott. "Gender, Race, and Coalition Building:
Agenda Setting as a Mechanism for Collaboration Among Minority Groups in Congress."
2015. (Under revision for journal submission this spring)
Malbin, Michael M. and Michael Parrott. “Are All Public Matching Fund Programs Created
Equal? A Comparative Analysis of the Role of Small Donors in New York City and Los
Angeles” (Working Paper)
Malbin, Michael M. and Michael Parrott. “Testing the Effects of Varied Campaign Finance
Policies on Donor Participation: Results from Survey Experiments.” (Working Paper)
Professional Presentations
Parrott, Michael D. “Business Influence and Constituency Representation.” WPSA Annual
Meeting Paper. 2014.
Rouse, Stella M., Michele Swers, and Michael David Parrott. "Gender, Race, and Coalition
Building: Agenda Setting as a Mechanism for Collaboration Among Minority Groups in
Congress." APSA Annual Meeting Paper. 2013.
Gimpel, James G., Frances E. Lee, and Michael Parrott. “Economic Interests and the Party
Coalitions: Campaign Contributions as a Window onto Partisan Alliances.” MPSA Annual
Meeting Paper. 2012.
Parrott, Michael D. “Biased Gatekeepers: Industry Bias in Congressional Committees.” MPSA
Annual Meeting Paper. 2012.
Parrott, Michael D. “Business Asset Placement and Interest Group Influence.” MPSA Annual
Meeting Paper. 2012.
Teaching Experience
Instructor, University of Maryland, College Park
Government and Politics Public Policy Internship Seminar
Scope and Methods for Political Science Research
State and Local Politics
Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, College Park
The Craft of Political Science Research, Spring 2014
GIS Analysis for Social Science Research (Graduate Level Course), Fall 2013
The Craft of Political Science Research, Spring 2013
GIS Analysis for Social Science Research, Fall 2012
Introduction to Politics, Fall 2010
Other Experience
Graduate Research Assistant, University of Maryland, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012, College
Park, MD. Worked with Professor Stella Rouse to collect data for Latino issues in American
states. Created web-scraping program to automate data gathering across several websites for
legislation from state legislative sessions.
Quantitative Methods Training
Advanced regression modelling including: Time-series models, Network models, Spatial lag
and error models, Geographically weighted regression, and Multi-level modelling.
Software, Foreign Language, and International Experience
SPSS, STATA, and R, ArcGIS, Geoda, Crimestat, LINUX (for university high power computing
clusters), Amazon cloud computing with EC2 and Hadoop, Microsoft Access, Excel (advanced user
with in depth experience using Pivot tables, Macros, and V-lookups), Microsoft SharePoint creation
and administration, PowerPoint, Various Video editing software, Microsoft Word (including mail
merge experience), Html, Created and managed several websites.
Advanced conversational abilities in Spanish (Intermediate reading and writing)
Intermediate conversational ability in Catalan
Intermediate conversational ability in Japanese
Foreign Travel and Residence in Japan, Thailand, China, Latin America, and Europe
Awards, Honors, and Organizations
Conley H. Dillon Dissertation Award (Spring 2015)
University of Maryland Fellowship recipient (2010-2015)
Goldhaber Travel Grant (Spring 2014)
NIH Funded Advanced Spatial Statistics Workshop Scholarship and Travel Grant (Summer 2011)
University of Maryland Quantitative Methods Grant (Summer 2011)
Fordham University Fellowship recipient (2007-09)
Psi Chi psychology honors society
Academic All-American for Football (2001)
Member of APSA, MPSA, and SPSA
References
Dr. Frances Lee (Dissertation Advisor)
Professor of American Politics
Department of Government and Politics
3140 Tydings hall, University of Maryland
College Park, Md
Tel: (301)-405-4439
Email:[email protected]
Dr. James Gimpel
Professor of American Politics
Department of Government and Politics
3140 Tydings hall, University of Maryland
College Park, Md
Tel: (301)-405-4156
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Stella Rouse
Professor of American Politics, Fellow at the Center for American Politics and Citizenship
Department of Government and Politics
3140 Tydings hall, University of Maryland
College Park, Md
Tel: (301)-405-4194
Email: [email protected]