Steven J. Balla

Areas of Expertise

American politics, Chinese politics, regulation, government consultation and public participation in the policymaking process

Steven J. Balla is Associate Professor of Political Science, Public Policy and Public Administration, and International Affairs, and a Senior Scholar at the George Washington Regulatory Studies Center. He researches government consultation and public participation in policymaking in the United States and China. He has served as a consultant to the Administrative Conference of the United States, drawing on his research on public commenting in the U.S. rulemaking process to make recommendations for how to improve stakeholder engagement in regulatory policymaking. He has served as a Fulbright Scholar in China on two occasions, at Peking University in Beijing and Nankai University in Tianjin. He is currently working on a project on mass comment campaigns in American rulemaking and a project on government consultation and public participation in Chinese policymaking.

Education

PhD, Political Science, Duke University

MA, Political Science, Duke University

BA, Government and Economics, Franklin and Marshall College

CV

Publications

Bureaucracy and Democracy: Accountability and Performance (Sage/CQ Press) (with William T. Gormley, Jr., Georgetown)

"Is Consultation the 'New Normal?': Online Policymaking and Governance Reform in China" (Journal of Chinese Political Science)

The Oxford Handbook of Classics in Public Policy and Administration (Oxford University Press) (with Martin Lodge and Edward C. Page, London School of Economics) 

"Where’s the Spam?: Interest Groups and Mass Comment Campaigns in Agency Rulemaking." With Alexander R. Beck, William C. Cubbison, and Aryamala Prasad. Policy & Internet.

Office Hours

Thursdays 1:30 - 2:30 pm, and by appointment.

Classes Taught

PSC 2101 Scope and Methods in Political Science

PSC 3193W Politics of Regulation

PSC 8229 Politics and Public Policy

PSC 8217 Executive Branch Politics