David M. Primo
Ani and Mark
Gabrellian Professor
Professor of
Political Science and Business Administration
Associate
Dept. Chair and Director of Graduate Studies, Dept. of Political Science
University
of Rochester
Harkness
Hall 318 (Dept. of Political Science)
Rochester,
NY 14627-0146
585.273.4779
Vita
(updated September 2023)
New: Sept. 2023 Congressional
Testimony
Hearing: Examining Proposed
Constitutional Amendments
September 19, 2023
US House Judiciary Committee,
Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government
Latest Book
Campaign Finance and American Democracy
What the Public Really Thinks and Why It Matters
with Jeff
Milyo, 2020, University of Chicago Press
Read the Roll
Call op-ed
based on the book
Congressional Testimony
Hearing: The Need for the
Balanced Budget Amendment
July 27, 2017
US House Judiciary Committee
Hearing: First Principles of
Congressional Budgeting
July 28, 2015
US House Budget Committee
Hearing: Constitutional Solutions
to Our Escalating National Debt:
Examining Balanced Budget Amendments
US House Judiciary Committee
July 24, 2014
Written
Testimony with Appendices
Hearing
Webcast
Hearing: Whether the Constitution Should
Be Amended to Address the Federal Deficit
May 13, 2011
US House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee
on the Constitution
Written
Testimony
Selected Op-eds
Personal
Data About Small-Donor Democrats Is All Over the Internet, a New York
Times op-ed about campaign finance disclosure
Markets
Weren’t Spooked by a President Trump, a Wall Street Journal op-ed on the 2016 election
Wobbly
Policies Make for a Shaky Economy, a Wall
Street Journal op-ed on political uncertainty
The
Stock Market Doesn’t Care About Elections, a New York Times op-ed on elections and markets
A
Political Attack on Shareholder Value, a Wall Street Journal op-ed on corporate disclosure
Against
Disclosure, a New York Times
op-ed on corporate disclosure
Public
Financing No Cure-all, an Albany
Times-Union op-ed reacting to the Moreland Commission Report
Campaign
Finance Disclosure Has Costs, a Roll
Call op-ed on campaign finance disclosure and congress
New
Jersey Least Corrupt? Ha, Ha, a Wall
Street Journal op-ed on measuring corruption
Overcoming
‘Physics Envy,’ a New York Times
op-ed based on my book A Model Discipline
Obama’s
Budget Blind Spot, a Los Angeles
Times op-ed on the federal budget
Books
Political
Science and the Logic of Representations
Co-authored with Kevin A. Clarke
2012,
Read the New York Times op-ed
based on the book
Government
Spending and the Design of Institutions
2007, University of Chicago Press
Winner, 2008 Alan Rosenthal Prize,
APSA Legislative Studies Section
Airline
Crashes, the Media, and Transportation Policy
Co-authored with Roger W. Cobb
2003, Brookings Institution Press
Featured on NBC’s Today Show,
December 22, 2005
Published Articles
Business and Politics, 2019, with Saumya Prabhat
Related NYT
Op-ed (Nov. 2013): Against
Disclosure
Related WSJ
Op-ed (Sept. 2014): A
Political Attack on Shareholder Value
Policy
Dynamics and Electoral Uncertainty in the Appointments Process
Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2017, with Jinhee Jo and Yoji
Sekiya
(e-mail me for pdf of published
article)
Strategic Management Journal, 2016, with Rob Carroll and Brian Richter
Data: www.socialscores.org
Disclosing
Disclosure: Lessons from a “Failed”
Field Experiment (e-mail me
for the full paper)
The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary
Politics, 2014, with
Dick M. Carpenter II, Pavel Tendetnik, and Sandy Ho
Information
at the Margin: Campaign Finance
Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge
Election Law Journal, 2013
Related
Policy Report: Full
Disclosure: How Campaign Disclosure Laws
Fail to Inform Voters and Stifle Public Debate
Related NYT
Op-ed: Against
Disclosure
Related
Forbes Op-ed: It’s
Time to Bring Some Sanity to Campaign Finance Laws
Bankruptcy
Law, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Performance
Entrepreneurship
Research Journal, 2011, with Bill Green
Party
Strength, the Personal Vote, and Government Spending
American
Journal of Political Science, April 2010, with Jim Snyder
The Effect
of Initiatives on Local Government Spending
Journal of Theoretical Politics, January 2010 (e-mail me for pdf of published
article)
Who
Consents? Competing Pivots in Federal
Judicial Selection
American
Journal of Political Science, July 2008,
with Sarah Binder and Forrest
Maltzman
Distributive
Politics and the Law of 1/n
Journal of Politics, April 2008, with Jim Snyder
Modernizing
Political Science: A Model-Based
Approach
Perspectives on Politics, December 2007, with Kevin Clarke
Estimating
the Impact of State Policies and Institutions with Mixed-Level Data
State
Politics & Policy Quarterly, Winter 2007,
with Matt Jacobsmeier and Jeff Milyo
A Comment on
Baron and Ferejohn (1989): The Open Rule
Equilibrium and Coalition Formation
Public Choice, January 2007
Stop Us
Before We Spend Again: Institutional
Constraints on Government Spending
Economics & Politics, November 2006
Campaign
Finance Laws and Political Efficacy:
Evidence From the States
Election Law Journal, March 2006, with Jeff Milyo
Rethinking
Political Bargaining: Policymaking With
a Single Proposer
Journal
of Law, Economics, & Organization, October 2002
Budgetary
Reform and Formal Modeling: A Comment on
Gabel and Hager
Public
Opinion and Campaign Finance: Reformers Versus Reality
Independent
Review, Fall 2002
Corporate PAC
Campaign Contributions in Perspective
Business and Politics, 2000, with Jeff Milyo and Tim Groseclose