Robert S. Wood joined the UND faculty in 2003, bringing with him considerable practical experience from the trenches of public administration.   Professor Wood worked as a Labor Market Economist for the State of Utah for eight years before returning to graduate school.  At the University of Washington, Wood participated in the analysis, design, and implementation of labor-related public policy programs, receiving his doctorate in 2003.  Professor Wood is a Senior Research Associate at the Bureau of Governmental Affairs at UND and an Associate Fellow at the Center for American Politics and Public Policy at the University of Washington.  His teaching interests include public policy processes, American national politics, environmental and health policy, bureaucracy and public administration.  In addition to public policy processes, Professor Wood’s research interests include bureaucratic behavior and regulatory policy.  Wood has presented his work at such conferences as the annual meetings of the American Political Science Association, Midwest Political Science Association, and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.  His research has been published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, the Policy Studies Journal, and State and Local Government Review.

Robert S. Wood

Assistant Professor

University of North Dakota

Department of Political Science and Public Administration

Grand Forks, ND 58202-8379

701-777-3546 (phone)

701-777-2085 (fax)

robert.wood@und.nodak.edu

Education:

B.A. (cum laude), Weber State University (1989); M.A., University of Washington (1999); Ph.D., University of Washington (2003)

Publications:

“Tobacco’s Tipping Point: The Master Settlement Agreement as a Focusing Event.”  Policy Studies Journal, August 2006 v34 number 3, pp 419-436.

“The Dynamics of Incrementalism: Subsystems, Politics, and Public Lands.”  Policy Studies Journal, February 2006 v34 number 1, pp 1-16.

“Strategies, Opportunities, and Choice: Local Governments and Economic Development in North Dakota.”  Special Report, Bureau of Governmental Affairs, University of North Dakota, 2005.

“Earthquake Entrepreneurs: Local Policy Systems and the Regulation of Public Risks in California.”  State and Local Government Review.  Fall 2004 v36 i3 pp 198-211.

“At the Regulatory Frontlines: Inspectors’ Enforcement Styles and Regulatory Compliance” Peter May and Robert S. Wood.  Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. April 2003 v13 i2 pp 117-140.

“Earthquake Entrepreneurs: Local Seismic Regulation in California," in Adoption and Enforcement of Earthquake Risk-Reduction Measures, PEER Report 1999-04, University of California, Berkeley; pp. 60–84.  [also available online at http://peer.berkeley.edu/]

Conference Presentations:

“Supervision and the Street-Level Bureaucrat.”  Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Political Science Association, Philadelphia, PA August 30 – September 3, 2006.

“Policy Entrepreneurs and Economic Development in North Dakota Cities.”  Paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL April 20-23, 2006.

“The Dynamics of Incrementalism: Subsystems, Politics, and Public Lands.”  Paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL April 4-6, 2005.

“The New Public Dilemma: The Contrasting Assumptions of Traditional Public Administration and New Public Management”.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, Atlanta, GA, October 28-30 2004.

"The New Public Dilemma: Supervision vs. Empowerment on the Front Lines of Government"  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 12-15 2004.

“At the Regulatory Front Lines: Supervision and Accountability at the Street-Level”.  Presented at the 2003Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management annual meeting in Washington, DC.

“At the Regulatory Frontlines: Positive and Negative Explanations for Street Level Behavior”.  Presented at the 2003 American Political Science Association annual meeting, Boston. 

“At the Regulatory Frontlines: The Use of Discretion at the Street-Level”.  Presented at the 2003 annual meeting of the Pacific Northwest Political Science Association, Bellevue Washington.

“At the Regulatory Frontlines: Inspectors as Street Level Bureaucrats”.  Presented at the 2002 Midwestern Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Chicago.

“Earthquake Entrepreneurs: The Importance of Local Initiative in Regulating Public Risks.” Presented at the 2001 American Political Science Association annual meeting, San Francisco.

“At the Regulatory Frontlines: Inspectors’ Enforcement Styles and Regulatory Compliance.”  Presented with Peter May at the 2001 American Political Science Association annual meeting, San Francisco.

“Where the Rubber Meets the Road: A typology of the Street Level Policy Maker.” Presented at the 2001 Western Political Science Association annual meeting, Las Vegas.

"Regulatory Enforcement of Seismic Provisions”.  Presentation at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center Annual Meeting, Berkeley, CA, with Peter May and Jens Feeley, 1999.