Most aspects of transnational relations and many aspects of domestic law are the subject of international treaties. However, many of these agreements are not well adopted, leaving these aspects nominally covered in international law, but unprotected in practice. My research focus is on the limitations of international treaties to understand why some treaties are widely adopted while others are not. In my dissertation I explore this topic by using a quantitative analysis of over 100 treaties and qualitative chapters that evaluate international agreements in the United Nations and the International Labor Organization.
My work with Heather McKibben evaluates how states modify the commitments they make by using reservations, again weakening the strength of international agreements.
Peer Reviewed Papers
Bargaining Power in International Negotiations and Beyond (Forthcoming at International Negotiation).
The Fate of Survival Migrants: The Quality of Refuge (2019) in Heather Smith-Cannoy (ed). Emerging Threats to Human Rights: Resources, Violence, and Deprivation of Citizenship. Philadelphia, PN: Temple University Press. (with Jeannette Money).
Does anyone care about migrant rights? An analysis of why countries enter the convention on the rights of migrant workers and their families. (forthcoming at International Journal of Human Rights. (with Sarah P. Lockhart and Jeannette Money).
How Do We Make a Reservation? The Type of Reservations States Enter on Human Rights Treaties? (with Heather McKibben). (Forthcoming at The British Journal of Political Science).
2016. "Why Migrant Rights are Different than Human Rights." in Gary Freeman and Nikola Mirilovic (eds), Handbook of Migration and Social Policy. Edward Elgar Press (with Jean- nette Money and Sarah Lockhart).
2014. “Levels of Linkage: Across-Agreement v. Within-Agreement Explanations of Consensus Formation Among States” International Studies Quarterly. 58 (1). (with Heather McKibben).
Works in Progress
Indicators, Incentives, and Transnational Crime The Power of Mediocrity: Indicators, Reputation, and the Ratification of International Law International Adjudiation Under Pressure (with Henry Lovat)
