Welcome to my homepage. I am an associate professor of political science at the University of Richmond. Before coming to UR, I worked as a research fellow at the Brookings Institution, a public policy think tank in Washington, DC, and recently, I was recognized by the National Academy for Social Insurance for my research on the disabled and social welfare policy. Today, my scholarship focuses on the politics of social welfare policy and poverty in the United States. My central concern is understanding how advocacy groups advance their policy goals in a political climate that is suspicious of broad governmental activism and within a political system that is fragmented and decentralized. I look at how the American political system responds to citizen demands for economic security and equality through different kinds of policy tools than those used in the “ideal” welfare states of western Europe. Past projects have examined Social Security and disability policy, and currently, I am undertaking a study of education policy. In addition, I teach courses on public policy, social welfare and poverty politics, the courts and public policy, and research methods, and I work with the University’s Center for Civic Engagement in efforts to connect community service to students’ academic study of politics and public policy. On this site, you will find information on the courses I teach and on past and present research projects. If you have any questions, you may contact me at jerkulwa@richmond.edu.