Sarah A. Binder

Areas of Expertise

Legislative politics, American political economy

Professor Binder's work focuses on the politics of legislative institutions, including their origins, development and impact on policy outcomes. She is also an editor of the Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog.

Current Research

Professor Binder's most recent work examines the ways in politics and economics intersect to shape the governance of and decision making by the Federal Reserve.

Education

Ph.D. 1995, University of Minnesota

B.A. 1986, Yale University

CV (PDF)

Publications

Professor Binder's most recent book is The Myth of Independence: How Congress Governs the Federal Reserve, co-authored with Mark Spindel (Princeton, 2017). Her previous books include Advice & Dissent: The Struggle to Shape the Federal Judiciary, co-authored with Forrest Maltzman (Brookings 2009), Stalemate: Causes and Consequences of Legislative Gridlock (Brookings, 2003), Minority Rights, Majority Rule: Partisanship and the Development of Congress (Cambridge, 1997) and Politics or Principle? Filibustering in the United States Senate, co-authored with Steven S. Smith (Brookings, 1997). Her work has also appeared in the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and elsewhere.

Office Hours

On sabbatical, 2020-21; by appointment only

Classes Taught

PSC 2218W Legislative Politics

PSC 8210 American Political Process

PSC 8218 Legislative politics