Welcome

I am Co-Director of the UCLA-RAND Center for Law and Public Policy, Director of UCLA School of Law’s Empirical Research Group, Professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and an Adjunct Political Scientist with the RAND Corporation. My teaching and research is largely interdisciplinary, spanning law, the social sciences and public policy.  I have a particular interest in research on democratic institutions and how to enhance representation and effective governance.

I am the author of over thirty articles and book chapters on topics ranging from corruption in Japan to fiscal policymaking in Europe, from the use of social media to organize protests in Thailand to the use of new technology to filter potentially objectionable content in streaming video. My current projects include work on migrant voting rights, redistricting, environmental sustainability in Los Angeles, and leveraging digitized caselaw for doctrinal research.

I earned my BA with Highest Honors in Politics and a double major in East Asian Studies from Oberlin College, and my PhD in Political Science from UC San Diego where I was an Earl Warren Fellow and winner of the Peggy Quon Prize for outstanding research. Before joining UCLA Law, I served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of British Columbia and as a Fellow with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research’s Program on Institutions, Organizations and Growth.

The best way to contact me is by email at nyblade@law.ucla.edu.