Maxwell Palmer

Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston University

I study American political institutions, focusing on Congress, electoral institutions, and local government. My research examines how institutional arrangements and rules impact representation and policy outcomes. I also work as a consultant and expert witness on questions about voting rights, redistricting, and representation.

I am currently the Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science, a Civic Tech Fellow in the Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, and a Faculty Fellow at the Initiative on Cities.

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Current Projects

• “Descended from Immigrants and Revolutionists: How Family Immigration History Shapes Legislative Behavior in Congress” (with James Feigenbaum and Benjamin Schneer). Conditionally Accepted at Quarterly Journal of Economics.
• “Durable Partisan Gerrymanders Can Enable Permanent Majorities and Threaten Democracy” (with Benjamin Schneer). Working Paper.
• “Built Infrastructure Federalism: Local Barriers to Climate Policy” (with Katherine Levine Einstein and David M. Glick). Working Paper.
• “When are Mayors Polarized?” (with Katherine Levine Einstein and David M. Glick). Working Paper.
• “The Gray Vote: How Older Home-Owning Voters Dominate Local Elections” (with Katherine Levine Einstein, Ellis, and Ethan Singer). Working Paper.

Book

• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2019. Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Articles

• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2024. “How Affordable Housing Can Exclude: The Political Economy of Subsidized Housing.” Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy 5(1): 71–90.
• Palmer, Maxwell, Benjamin Schneer, and Kevin DeLuca. 2024. “A Partisan Solution to Partisan Gerrymandering: The Define-Combine Procedure.” Political Analysis 32(3): 295–310.
• Shafer, Paul, Maxwell Palmer, Ahyoung Cho, Mara Lynch, Pierce Louis, and Alexandra Skinner. 2024. “A dataset of geocoded Medicaid office locations in the United States.” Data in Brief 53: 110068.
• Justin de Benedictis-Kessner and Maxwell Palmer. 2023. “Driving Turnout: The Effect of Car Ownership on Electoral Participation.” Political Science Research and Methods 11(3): 654–662.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2023. “Public participation” in A Research Agenda for US Land Use and Planning Law, eds. John J. Infranca and Sarah Schindler. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, Joseph Ornstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Who Represents the Renters?” Housing Policy Debate 33(6): 1554–1568.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Developing a pro-housing movement? Public distrust of developers, fractured coalitions, and the challenges of measuring political power.” Interest Groups & Advocacy 11: 189–208.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, Luisa Godinez Puig, and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Still Muted: The Limited Participatory Democracy of Zoom Public Meetings.” Urban Affairs Review 59(4): 1279–1291.
• Glick, David M. and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “County Over Party: How Governors Prioritized Geography Not Particularism in the Distribution of Opportunity Zones.” British Journal of Political Science 52(4): 1902–1910.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2021. “Land of the Freeholder: How Property Rights Make Voting Rights.” Journal of Historical Political Economy 1(4): 499–530.
• Luisa Godinez Puig, Katharine Lusk, David Glick, Katherine L. Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, Stacy Fox, and Monica L. Wang. 2021. “Perceptions of Public Health Priorities and Accountability Among US Mayors.” Public Health Reports 136(2): 161–171.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2020. “Can Mayors Lead on Climate Change? Evidence from Six Years of Surveys.” The Forum 18(1): 71–86.
• Ban, Pamela, Maxwell Palmer, and Benjamin Schneer. 2019. “From the Halls of Congress to K Street: Government Experience and its Value for Lobbying.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 44(4): 713–752.
• Palmer, Maxwell and Benjamin Schneer. 2019. “Postpolitical Careers: How Politicians Capitalize on Public Office.” Journal of Politics 81(2): 670–675.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, Maxwell Palmer, and David M. Glick. 2019. “Who Participates in Local Government? Evidence from Meeting Minutes.” Perspectives on Politics 17(1): 28–46.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2019. “City Learning: Evidence of Policy Information Diffusion From a Survey of U.S. Mayors.” Political Research Quarterly 72(1): 243–258.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, Maxwell Palmer, and Robert Pressel. 2018. “Do Mayors Run for Higher Office? New Evidence on Progressive Ambition.” American Politics Research 48(1): 197–221.
• Ansolabehere, Stephen, Maxwell Palmer, and Benjamin Schneer. 2018. “Divided Government and Significant Legislation, A History of Congress from 1789-2010.” Social Science History 42(1): 81–108.
• Edwards, Barry, Michael Crespin, Ryan D. Williamson, and Maxwell Palmer. 2017. “Institutional Control of Redistricting and the Geography of Representation.” Journal of Politics 79(2): 722–726.
• Palmer, Maxwell. 2016. “Does the Chief Justice Make Partisan Appointments to Special Courts and Panels?” Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 13(1): 153–177.
• Palmer, Maxwell and Benjamin Schneer. 2016. “Capitol Gains: The Returns to Elected Office from Corporate Board Directorships.” Journal of Politics 78(1): 181–196.
• Ansolabehere, Stephen and Maxwell Palmer. 2016. “A Two Hundred-Year Statistical History of the Gerrymander.” Ohio State Law Journal 77(4): 741–762.
• Ansolabehere, Stephen, Maxwell Palmer, and Benjamin Schneer. 2016. “What Has Congress Done?” in Governing in a Polarized Age: Elections, Parties, and Political Representation in America, eds. Alan Gerber and Eric Schickler. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Gerring, John, Maxwell Palmer, Jan Teorell, and Dominic Zarecki. 2015. “Demography and Democracy: A Global, District-level Analysis of Electoral Contestation.” American Political Science Review 109(3): 574–591.

Policy Reports

• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2024. “Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2024, Special Topic: Public Land: Opportunity or Obstacle?” Research Report. The Boston Foundation.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2024. “Mayoral Accountability and Control.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, Maxwell Palmer, Stacy Fox, and Erin LeBlanc. 2024. “Building for a Green Future: Cities and the IRA.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Schneer, Benjamin, Kevin DeLuca, and Maxwell Palmer. 2024. “How politicians can draw fairer election districts − the same way parents make kids fairly split a piece of cake.” The Conversation.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2023. “2022 Menino Survey of Mayors: Economic Opportunity, Poverty, and Well-Being.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2023. “2022 Menino Survey of Mayors: Mayors and the Climate Crisis.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2022, Special Topic: Who Can Win the Lottery? Moving Toward Equity in Subsidized Housing.” Research Report. The Boston Foundation.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Looking back on ARPA and America’s Cities: A Menino Survey Reflection.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “Representation in the Housing Process: Best Practices for Improving Racial Equity.” Research Report. The Boston Foundation.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2022. “2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Closing the Racial Wealth Gap.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, and Maxwell Palmer. 2021. “2021 Menino Survey of Mayors: Building Back Better.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, Stacy Fox, Katharine Lusk, Nicholas Henninger, and Songhyun Park. 2021. “2020 Menino Survey of Mayors: Policing and Protests.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Glick, David M., Katherine Levine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, and Stacy Fox. 2020. “2020 Menino Survey of Mayors: COVID-19 Recovery and the Future of Cities.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Justin de Benedictis-Kessner and Maxwell Palmer. 2020. “Got Wheels? How Having Access to a Car Impacts Voting.” Democracy Docket.
• Palmer, Maxwell, Katherine Levine Einstein, and David Glick. 2020. “Counting the City: Mayoral Views on the 2020 Census.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, Maxwell Palmer, Stacy Fox, Marina Berardino, Noah Fischer, Jackson Moore-Otto, Aislinn O’Brien, Marilyn Rutecki, and Benjamin Wuesthoff. 2020. “COVID-19 Housing Policy.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine and Maxwell Palmer. 2020. “Newton and other communities must reform housing approval process.” The Boston Globe.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, Maxwell Palmer, and Stacy Fox. 2020. “2019 Menino Survey of Mayors.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Palmer, Maxwell, Katherine Levine Einstein, David Glick, and Stacy Fox. 2019. “Mayoral Views on Housing Production: Do Planning Goals Match Reality?” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Wilson, Graham, David Glick, Katherine Levine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, and Stacy Fox. 2019. “Mayoral Views on Economic Incentives: Valuable Tools or a Bad Use of Resources?” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, Maxwell Palmer, and Stacy Fox. 2019. “2018 Menino Survey of Mayors.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, Katharine Lusk, David Glick, Maxwell Palmer, Christiana McFarl, Leon Andrews, Aliza Wasserman, and Chelsea Jones. 2018. “Mayoral Views on Racism and Discrimination.” Research Report. National League of Cities and Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2018. “As the Trump administration retreats on climate change, US cities are moving forward.” The Conversation.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David M. Glick, Maxwell Palmer, and Robert Pressel. 2018. “Few big-city mayors see running for higher office as appealing.” LSE United States Politics and Policy Blog.
• Einstein, Katherine Levine, David Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. 2018. “2017 Menino Survey of Mayors.” Research Report. Boston University Initiative on Cities.
• Williamson, Ryan D., Michael Crespin, Maxwell Palmer, and Barry C. Edwards. 2017. “This is how to get rid of gerrymandered districts.” The Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog.
• Palmer, Maxwell and Benjamin Schneer. 2015. “How and why retired politicians get lucrative appointments on corporate boards.” The Washington Post, Monkey Cage Blog.

Expert Testimony & Consulting

• Bethune-Hill v. Virginia (3:14-cv-00852-REP-AWA-BMK), U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Prepared expert reports and testified on racial predominance and racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2011 Virginia House of Delegates map. (2017)
• Thomas v. Bryant (3:18-CV-441-CWR-FKB), U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting in a district of the 2012 Mississippi State Senate map. (2018–2019)
• Chestnut v. Merrill (2:18-cv-00907-KOB), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2011 Alabama congressional district map. (2019)
• Dwight v. Raffensperger (No. 1:18-cv-2869-RWS), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2011 Georgia congressional district map. (2019)
• Bruni, et al. v. Hughs (No. 5:20-cv-35), U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Prepared expert reports and testified on the use of straight-ticket voting by race and racially polarized voting in Texas. (2020)
• Caster v. Merrill (No. 2:21-cv-1536-AMM), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Prepared expert report and testified on racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2021 Alabama congressional district map. (2022)
• Pendergrass v. Raffensperger (1:21-CV-05339-SCJ), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2021 Georgia congressional district map. (2022)
• Grant v. Raffensperger (1:22-CV-00122-SCJ), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting in selected districts of the 2021 Georgia state legislative district maps. (2022)
• Galmon, et al. v. Ardoin (3:22-cv-00214-SDD-SDJ), U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. Prepared expert reports and testified on racially polarized voting for the 2021 Louisiana congressional district map. (2022)
• United States v. Robert Bowers (2:18-cr-00292-DWA), U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Prepared expert reports on the demographics of the voter registriation list and composition of the master jury wheel. (2020–2023)
• Agee, et al. v. Benson, et al. (1:22-CV-00272-PLM-RMK-JTN), U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Prepared expert report and testified on racially polarized voting and racial predominance in the Michigan House and Senate maps adopted by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. (2023)
• In Re: Georgia Senate Bill 202 (1:12-MI-55555-JPB), U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Prepared expert report and testified on demographics and racially polarized voting in Georgia. (2023)
• Vet Voice Foundation, et al., v. Hobbs, et al. (No. 22-2-19384-1 SEA), King County Superior Court, Washington. Prepared expert reports and testified on ballots rejected for non-matching signatures in Washington. (2023)
• Vet Voice Foundation, et al., v. Griswold (No. 2022CV033456), District Court, City and County of Denver, State of Colorado. Prepared expert reports and testified on ballots rejected for non-matching signatures in Colorado. (2023)
• Williams, et. al., v. Hall (1:23-CV-01057-TDS-JLW), U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. Prepared expert report on racially polarized voting and effects of 2023 Congressional redistricting in North Carolina. (2024)
• California Alliance for Retired Americans et al. v. Weber (No. 24STCP02062), Superior Court of the State of California in and for the County of Los Angeles. Prepared declaration in support of plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction. (2024)
• “Brief Of Political Science Professors As Amici Curiae In Support Of Appellees,” in the case of Alexander vs. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, in the Supreme Court of the United States (No. 22-807). (with Stephen Ansolabehere, Bruce E. Cain, James M. Snyder, Jr., and Charles Stewart III)
• Racially Polarized Voting Consultant, Virginia Redistricting Commission, August 2021.
• The General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Joint Committee on Housing, Hearing on Housing Production Legislation. May 14, 2019. Testified on the role of public meetings in housing production.