I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My dissertation, How the Prospect of Judicial Review Shapes Bureaucratic Decision Making, examines the degree to which federal agencies alter their regulatory behavior as a means to avoid unfavorable litigation. The study, which is supported by a National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, incorporates original data collection of regulatory behavior by the Environmental Protection Agency, National Labor Relations Board, and Federal Trade Commission. I plan to defend my dissertation in the Spring of 2010.

My major field is American Politics and my minor is in Research Methodology. I primarily study American political institutions. My research interests include judicial politics, the Solicitor General's Office, public opinion and the U.S. Supreme Court; interinstitutional politics and executive branch litigation in the federal judiciary; executive politics and bureaucratic politics; and time series analysis.

Phone: (301) 873-6547
Office: 303 Hamilton Hall
Fax: (919) 962-0432
E-mail: pcwohlf@email.unc.edu