Professor Ensley's research agenda focuses on the politics of U.S. Congress, and specifically on how legislators are elected to office and what the implications are for legislative productivity and outcomes. Members of Congress are elected from distinct geographic constituencies with its own unique collection of interests. However, members of Congress are also affiliates of national political parties, which can and do produce competing pressures. Understanding how members of Congress navigate the tensions between their constituents' demands and the needs of their parties, as well as their own personal beliefs and interests, is fundamental to assessing how well the electoral process functions and how public policy is made. In addition to his substantive interests in American Politics, Professor Ensley is interested in the application of statistical, computational, and experimental methods to the study of politics.
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