Dr. Biggers has broad research interests in American politics that include political behavior, voting and participation, state politics, direct democracy, and election reform. His current work focuses on the relationship between political behavior and state-level institutions, the causes and consequences of political behavior for those underrepresented in the electorate, and the role of citizen self-interest in shaping political attitudes.
In his recent book, Morality at the Ballot: Direct Democracy and Political Engagement in the United States (Cambridge University Press), Dr. Biggers develops a new theoretical framework to understand how the opportunities for citizens to craft legislation through the process of direct democracy influence political engagement and participation. He argues that the ability of this institution to increase turnout is significantly more limited than currently thought, and uses a small subset of ballot issues, those that address morality policy, to demonstrate the conditions necessary for direct democracy to influence turnout, affect who votes, and shape electoral and policy outcomes.
His other research has appeared or is forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science, Political Behavior, American Politics Research, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, Electoral Studies, and the Journal of Experimental Political Science. He received his Ph.D. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2012, and was previously a Postdoctoral Associate at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and the Center for the Study of American Politics at Yale University.