About me

Welcome! I am a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. My research is focused primarily on American Politics, Public Policy, and Political Behavior. I received my PhD in Political Science from Yale University and my B.S. in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame.

My research focuses on how major policies of the late twentieth-century, such as the push for local governments to outsource social services to non-profit organizations, have restructured local political economies. My book project, The Policy Influence of Non-Profit Service Providers, examines the causes of non-profit political activity and policy influence in local and state politics. Using over one hundred qualitaitve interviews, participant observation, archival research, and large-N observational analyses, I argue that low state capacity, ongoing funding relationships, and the development of interorganizational advocacy coalitions empower non-profits to engage in political activity and policy influence. Further, I argue that because outsourcing institutes the partnerships and markets that give rise to these three key factors, the policy undermines its own goals by entrenching monopolistic, rent-seeking interest groups while also undermining the independence of civil society. In addition, I have published work and working papers on public opinion, political behavior, and policy feedback in the U.S. context. Please visit my Research page to see what I’m working on.

You can download my CV here, and you can contact me at nottone@stanford.edu. Thank you for visiting!