David Primo

Ani and Mark Gabrellian Professor
Associate Professor of Political Science and Business Administration

Associate Department Chair and Director of Graduate Studies

• david.primo@rochester.edu
• http://www.rochester.edu/college/psc/primo/
• Harkness Hall 318
• Mon. 1:00-3:00
• 585-273-4779

PhD, Stanford, 2002. American political institutions, budgetary politics, campaign finance law, and political bargaining. Professor Primo’s research currently focuses on budget rules, the value of legislative “pork” for reelection, the politics of judicial appointments, and the effectiveness of campaign finance laws. He has published articles in American Journal of Political Science, Business and Politics, Economics & Politics, Election Law Journal, Independent Review, Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Entrepreneurship Research Journal, Journal of Politics, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Public Choice, and State Politics & Policy Quarterly, as well as in several edited volumes. His first book, The Plane Truth: Airline Crashes, the Media, and Transportation Policy (Brookings Institution Press, 2003), co-authored with Roger Cobb, examines governmental responses to plane crashes. His second book, Rules and Restraint: Government Spending and the Design of Institutions (University of Chicago Press, 2007), focuses on the design and enforcement of budget rules and received the 2008 Alan Rosenthal Prize awarded by the Legislative Studies Section of the American Political Science Association. His third book, A Model Discipline: Political Science and the Logic of Representations (Oxford University Press, late 2011 release date), co-authored with Kevin Clarke, studies the role of models, both theoretical and statistical, in social science research. Professor Primo is a Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, a member of the American Politics Research Editorial Board, and a member of the Board of Academic Advisors at the Center for Competitive Politics. He teaches courses in American politics, business and government, entrepreneurship, and positive political theory. He is a recipient of a 2005 Goergen Award for Distinguished Achievement and Artistry in Undergraduate Education, as well as a 2005 Undergraduate Professor of the Year Award given by the University of Rochester Students’ Association.