Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics

Professor Moffitt’s research focuses on American political institutions and public policy. Her research combines political science and public policy to explain barriers confronting policy development and implementation in government agencies, especially in the fields of public education and public health. Her latest book, co-authored with Michaela O’Neill and David K. Cohen, is "Reforming the Reform: Problems of Public Schooling in the American Welfare State" (University of Chicago Press, 2023). She has published two other books: "Making Policy Public: Participatory Bureaucracy in American Democracy" (Cambridge University Press, 2014), and "The Ordeal of Equality: Did Federal Regulation Fix the Schools," co-authored with David K. Cohen (Harvard University Press in 2009). Her other scholarship has appeared in many journals including: the American Journal of Political Science; Journal of Politics; Perspectives on Politics; and American Journal of Education. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science and an MPP degree from the University of Michigan.