About

Welcome!

My name is Gabriel Foy-Sutherland. I’m a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Chicago. My research centers on political parties, campaigns, and elections. I am especially interested in campaign finance, electoral reforms, party adaptation, political advertising, and the effects of outside money on politics.

My dissertation, titled “The Submerged Campaign: Citizens United, SpeechNow, and the Transformation of American Campaign Strategy”, explores the growth and usage of two novel campaign strategies by political parties: “redboxing” and B-Roll or image provision. I find that these strategies are widespread in contemporary congressional elections, permitting campaigns to orchestrate the activities of non-party actors and direct vast sums of outside spending.

An article on this subject, co-authored with Saurav Ghosh (Director of Federal Campaign Finance Reform, Campaign Legal Center) was published in Election Law Journal and covered by The Guardian and Politico.

An additional article, titled “Direct Elections and Senate Representation”, co-authored with Professor Jon C. Rogowski and Professor Daniel J. Moskowitz, was awarded the Patrick J. Fett Prize for the best paper on the scientific study of Congress and the presidency presented at MPSA 2023.

My research has been supported by funding from the Stan I. Bach Fellowship for Congressional Studies, the Malyi Center for the Study of Institutional and Legal Integrity at the University of Chicago Law School, the Bradley Fellowship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University.

Prior to beginning my Ph.D., I received a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from the University of Manchester and an M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics. I have also worked in a variety of political communications and public relations roles in London, UK.

I can be contacted at gsutherland@uchicago.edu