Welcome to my website! It is designed to give a digital voice to my work and provide a resource for my students and other scholars. Given that feedback is crucial for the scientific process and improving my work, I appreciate your thoughtful comments. Also, feel free to use and share the content on this site.

The site is split into three main sections: a blog (States of Knowledge), my research agenda, and a teaching portfolio. Each of these is further described below, which is then followed by some other details about my life.

Thank you so much for visiting. Please come again.

States of Knowledge

While this is not my first blog, it is the first to merge my interests in state politics and public administration with comments on news, the profession, and life. The different parts of our lives are not discrete buckets. Our relationships and experiences outside of work often inspire and motivate where we place our professional efforts. Therefore, the blog is meant to capture the different aspects of my life and how they intersect. It is a place for me to work through ideas and get your feedback. The posts are not polished final pieces, but rough ideas.

Research Agenda

My research page serves as forum for conversation about my current work. It includes current projects, as well as published content, conference presentations, and talks. As always, I appreciate your feedback and would love to collaborate.

Teaching Portfolio

I thoroughly enjoy teaching and working with students. I also benefit greatly from materials and ideas provided by other teachers. Therefore, this part of the website serves as both a resource for my students and for other teachers. It includes materials from courses I have taught or am currently teaching, as well as other resources that I find valuable.

A Little About Me…

I grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but am not Amish. After spending two years in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey at Stockton University, I now reside with my family in Middletown, PA. My interest in politics and government started in a high school government class with an engaging and inspiring teacher. That turned into almost ten years of political science study between Elizabethtown College (BA), Villanova University (MA), and Penn State (MA and PhD). It also led to working in the public sector at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the federal Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of the Inspector General. These experiences drive the two overarching questions of my research: how do political behavior and institutions condition the policy choices made by states and how can we design effective and accountable institutions for public service provision across a diverse array of policy domains?

Outside of work, I am an avid outdoorsman and love hiking and camping with my wife, Rebecca. We also enjoy running and biking together. I gave my life to Christ as a teenager, but a rocky relationship with God in college tested my faith. I recommitted and was baptized in graduate school, where Rebecca and I met. Rebecca is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Kinesiology at Penn State Harrisburg and a research affiliate with the Women’s Health and Exercise Lab at Penn State University Park. She received her PhD in Kinesiology from Penn State in August 2013 and does great research on the effects of energy deficiency and exercise on female athletes. Rebecca is also a gifted teacher who loves mentoring students. Here is some scientific proof that she studies the coolest part of the body.

Our son, Peter Roy, was born on February 8, 2015. Peter is named after the Apostle Peter and my dad (Roy Mallinson). Read about his involvement in my PhD defense at PhD Talk. Our second son, Noah Jacob, was born on November 8, 2017. He’s our Old Testament boy and we share a middle name (the fourth generation of Jacobs). Our daughter, Anna Lyn, was born on November 6, 2021. She’s named for the prophetess and my mother-in-law (Lynda). 

Create Your Own States Map