Research

My research examines American national institutions and policy processes, with an emphasis on the role of civil society in shaping public policy decision-making and outcomes. My work contributes original insight to three complementary areas: interest group politics, public health, and agenda-setting.

My published research includes a co-authored book, Revolving Door Lobbying (University Press of Kansas, 2017), and 18 peer-reviewed articles appearing in journals such as Political Research Quarterly, American Journal of Public Health, Public Administration, Policy Studies Journal, Politics & Gender, Interest Groups & Advocacy, Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, and other outlets.

My work has been cited more than 1,000 times and has been supported by two National Science Foundation RAPID grants , as well as internal awards from both UT-Arlington and WVU.

BOOK

LaPira, Timothy M. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2017. Revolving Door Lobbying: Public Service, Private Influence, and the Unequal Representation of Interests. University Press of Kansas.


PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

18. Overton, Michael, Stephen Kleinschmit, Mary Feeney, Federica Fusi, Nick Hart, Spiro Maroulis, Kayla Schwoerer, Eric Stokan, Herschel F. Thomas, and Samuel Workman. 2023. Administrative Informatics: A Roundtable on the Conceptual Foundations of a Public Administration-centered Data Science Subfield. Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 6 (1-31).

17. Sledge, Daniel, Herschel F. Thomas, Bai Linh Hoang, and George Mohler. 2022. Impact of Medicaid, Race/Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice Referral on Opioid Use Disorder Treatment. Journal of the American Association of Psychiatry and the Law, 50(4), 1-11

16. Epp, Derek A. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2022. When Bad News Becomes Routine: Continuous Information Moderates How Governments Respond to Policy Problems. Political Research Quarterly, 76(1), 3-13.

15. Sledge, Daniel and Herschel F. Thomas. 2021. Public Perceptions of the Role of Government and Non-State Actors in Responding to COVID-19. Risk, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy

14. Fagan, E.J., Zachary McGee, and Herschel F. Thomas. 2021. The Power of the Party: Conflict Expansion and the Agenda Diversity of Interest Groups. Political Research Quarterly, 74(1):90-102.

13. LaPira, Timothy M. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2020. The Lobbying Disclosure Act at 25: Challenges and Opportunities for AnalysisInterest Groups & Advocacy, 9(1): 257-271. 

12. LaPira, Timothy, Kathleen Marchetti, and Herschel F. Thomas. 2019. Gender Politics in the Lobbying Profession. Politics & Gender, 16(3): 816-844.

11. Sledge, Daniel and Herschel. F. Thomas. 2019. From Disaster Response to Community Recovery: Nongovernmental Entities, Government, and Public Health. American Journal of Public Health, 109(3): 437-444.

10. Thomas, Herschel F. and Timothy M. LaPira. 2017. How Many Lobbyists Are in Washington?: Shadow Lobbying and the Gray Market for Political Advocacy. Interest Groups and Advocacy, 6(3):199-214.

9. Thomas, Herschel F. 2017. Modeling Contagion in Policy Systems. Cognitive Systems Research, 44:74-88.

8. LaPira, Timothy M., Herschel F. Thomas, and Frank R. Baumgartner. 2014. Washington Lobbyists in the Core and on the Periphery. Interest Groups and Advocacy, 3(3): 219-245.

7. Boydstun, Amber E., Shaun Bevan, and Herschel F. Thomas. 2014. The Importance of Attention Diversity and How to Measure ItPolicy Studies Journal, 42(2): 173-196.

6. Theriault, Sean T. and Herschel F. Thomas. The Diffusion of Support for Same-Sex Marriage in the US Senate. 2014. PS: Political Science and Politics, 47(4): 824-828.

5. Jones, Bryan D., Herschel F. Thomas, and Michelle Wolfe. 2014. Policy Bubbles. Policy Studies Journal, 42(1): 146-171.

4. LaPira, Timothy M. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2014. The Revolving Door and Interest Representation. Interest Groups and Advocacy, 3(1): 1-26.

3. Halpin, Darren R. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2012. Evaluating the Breadth of Policy Engagement by Organized InterestsPublic Administration, 90(3): 582-599.

2. Halpin, Darren R. and Herschel F. Thomas. 2012. Interest Group Survival: Exploring Mortality Anxiety. Interest Groups and Advocacy, 1(2): 215-238.

1. Maitland, Carleen, Herschel F. Thomas, and Louis-Marie Ngamassi. 2012. Internet Censorship and the Protection of Human Rights: An Organizational Informatics Perspective. Journal of Information Technology, 27(4): 285-300.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

County Budgetary Dynamics: Findings from Appalachia (with Corinne Connor and Samuel Workman, presented at APSA 2022 and COPPR 2023)

  • Winner of the APSA (Public Policy Section) 2023 Best Paper on Public Policy Award 

Compounding Crises: Non-state Service Provision in the Context of Multiple Extreme Events (with Daniel Sledge, presented at APPAM 2022, SPSA 2022)

Tired of Hearing it: Habituation to Problems and Regulatory Enforcement (with Ross Buchanan and Derek Epp, presented at CAP 2023)

Ideology, Local-Level Policymaking, and International Governmental Organizations (with Burcu A. Bayram and Daniel Sledge)

Learning from Lobbying (with Maraam Dwidar)

Disaster Communication and Large Language Models (with Daniel Sledge)

Revolving Doors and Public Policy Advocacy (with Griffin Bradley and Timothy M. LaPira)

The Policy Agenda of the Policy Studies Journal (with Zander Furnas, E.J. Fagan, Corinne Connor, Samuel Workman, and Chris Koski)