Michael Hartney is an associate professor of political science at Boston College and the Bruni Family Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Hartney’s scholarly expertise is in American politics and public policy with a focus on state and local government, interest groups, and education reform. His research has been published in journals such as the American Political Science Review and the American Journal of Political Science and received media coverage in the Economist, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
His first book, How Policies Make Interest Groups: Governments, Unions, and American Education, published by the University of Chicago Press, was awarded the American Political Science Association’s (APSA) prize for the best book on education politics and policy. The monograph helps explain the origins, power, and political activities of America’s teachers’ unions showing how state and local governments helped teachers unions gain outsized influence in American education.
Before embarking on an academic career, Hartney worked as a policy analyst for the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and his bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.
