Alexander Hertel-Fernandez

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez is a political scientist who studies the political economy of the United States, with an emphasis on the politics of organized interests and public policy. In recent work, he has examined the strategies that businesses have developed to lobby across the states, the ways that wealthy individuals are intervening in politics and their effect on the U.S. political terrain, and the politics of social programs, including unemployment insurance and Medicaid.

His most recent book, State Capture, examines how networks of conservative activists, donors, and businesses built organizations to successfully reshape public policy across the states and why progressives failed in similar efforts. His previous book, Politics at Work, examines how employers are increasingly recruiting their workers into politics to change elections and policy. He has published his research in leading peer-reviewed journals in political science and policy, including the American Political Science Review, The Journal of Politics, and Perspectives on Politics, as well as in The American Prospect, Democracy Journal, the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Vox, among other outlets.

He received his Ph.D. in government and social policy from Harvard University and has received fellowships and grants from the Hewlett Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Tobin Project, the National Science Foundation, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth.