Rob DeLeo

Rob A. DeLeo is an Associate Professor of Public Policy. A policy process scholar by training, Rob's work examines policy change in anticipation of emerging hazards, including climate change, novel diseases, and other types of slow onset events. His research has appeared in Policy Studies Journal, Public Administration Review, Policy & Politics, PNAS Nexus, Publius, Review of Policy Research, Natural Hazards Review as well as various other peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. Rob's work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and various academic and private organizations. Rob previously held a visiting fellowship at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and is a founding member of the Risk & Social Policy Working Group, an interdisciplinary team of scholars examining the relationship between risk messaging and individual behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was the 2021 co-recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Theodore Lowi Award for the best article written in Policy Studies Journal.

Education

• Ph.D. Northeastern University
• M.P.A. Northeastern University
• B.A. Framingham State University

Teaching Interests

Public Policymaking; Hazards and Disasters Policy; State and Local Government; Community-Based Research

Research Interests

Public Policy; Problem Definition and Agenda Setting; Disasters and Hazards Policymaking

Awards and Honors

• 2021, Theodore Lowi Award for the Best Article Published in Policy Studies Journal, American Political Science Association
• 2020, Visiting Fellow, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
• 2019, Humanities Seminar Research Fellowship , Bentley University Valente Center
• 2018, Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award, Bentley University
• 2018, Gregory J. Hall Award for Excellence in Honors Capstone Advising, Bentley University
• 2016, Innovation in Teaching Award, Bentley University
• 2015, Humanities Seminar Research Fellowship , Bentley University Valente Center
• 2014, Humanities Seminar Research Fellowship , Bentley University Valente Center
• 2013, Faculty Member of the Year Nominee , Bentley University Falcon Awards
• 2013, Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, Framingham State University
• 2012, Faculty Member of the Year Nominee, Bentley University Falcon Awards
• 2009, Best Graduate Student Paper Award, Northeastern University
• 2009, Comprehensive Examinations Completed with Distinction, Northeastern University

Publications

Journal Articles

• Taylor, K., DeLeo, R., Albright, E., Shanahan, E., Li, M., Koebele, E., Birkland, T. (2023). Policy Entrepreneurs and Individuals: Influence and Behavior in Pandemic Response. Public Administration Review.
• Shanahan, E., DeLeo, R., Albright, E., Li, M., Koebele, E., Taylor, K., Crow, D., Dickinson, K., Minkowitz, H., Birkland, T., Zhang, M. (2023). Visual policy narrative messaging improves COVID-19 vaccine uptake. PNAS Nexus.
• Crow, D., DeLeo, R., Albright, E., Taylor, K., Birkland, T., Koebele, E., Shanahan, E., Jeschke, N., Cage, C. (2022). Policy Learning and Change During Crisis: COVID-19 Policy Responses Across Six States. Review of Policy Research.
• Anderson, S., DeLeo, R., Taylor, K. (2022). Legislators Do Not Harness Voter Support for Disaster Preparedness. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy.
• Taylor, K., DeLeo, R., Birkland, T. (2022). Agency and Legislative Oversight as Problem Feedback: The Case of the Mid-Michigan Dam Failures. Wayne State Law Review, (68) 2 2-31.
• Birkland, T., Taylor, K., Crow, D., DeLeo, R. (2021). Governing in a Polarized Era: Federalism and the Response of U.S. State and Federal Governments to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Publius, (51) 4 650-672.
• Koebele, E., Dickinson, K., Hartigan, D. B., Neuberger, L., DeLeo, R., Shanahan, E., Robert, J. (2021). Perceptions of Efficacy are Key Determinants of Mask-Wearing Behavior During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Natural Hazards Review, (22) 3
• DeLeo, R., Taylor, K., Birkland, T., Crow, D. (2021). During Disaster: Refining the Concept of Focusing Events to Better Explain Long Duration Crises. International Review of Public Policy, (3) 1
• DeLeo, R., Duarte, A. (2021). Does Data Drive Policymaking? A Multiple Streams Perspective on the Relationship Between Indicators and Agenda Setting.. Policy Studies Journal, (50) 3
• Anderson, S., DeLeo, R., O'Donovan, K. (2020). Policy Entrepreneurs, Legislators, and Agenda Setting: Information and Influence. Policy Studies Journal, (48) 3 587-611.
• DeLeo, R. (2018). Indicators, Agendas and Streams: Analysing the Politics of Preparedness . Policy & Politics , (46) 1 27-45.
• DeLeo, R. (2017). Anticipatory policymaking in global venues: Policy change, adaptation, and the UNFCCC. Futures. 92 39-47.
• DeLeo, R., Donnelly, K. (2017). Remodeling the Model: Policy Transfer and the Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts. Polity, (49) 1 5-41.
• DeLeo, R. (2016). Time and the Management of Policy Conflict: Issues, Actors and Institutions in the Boston Biolaboratory Controversy. Critical Policy Studies, (10) 1
• DeLeo, R. (2014). Democratizing Public Health: Citizen Empowerment Through the Biothriller Genre. Catalyst, (4) 1
• DeLeo, R., Bosso, C., Kay, W. (2011). Reinventing Oversight in the 21st Century: The Question of Capacity. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, (13) 4
• DeLeo, R. (2010). Anticipatory-Conjectural Policy Problems: A Case Study of Avian Influenza. Risk, Hazards, & Crisis in Public Policy, (1) 1

Books

• DeLeo, R. (2015). Anticipatory Policymaking: When Government Acts to Prevent Problems and Why It Is So Difficult . Routledge

Book Chapters

• Birkland, T., DeLeo, R., Taylor, K. (2022). Focusing Events and European Politics In , (Eds.) Elgar Encyclopedia of European Union Public Policy. 400-407. Edward Elgar
• Taylor, K., DeLeo, R., Crow, D., Birkland, T. (2022). The US Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Incoherent Leadership, Fractured Federalism, and Squandered Capacity In Evangelia Petridou, Jörgen Sparf, Nikolaos Zahariadis, and Theofanis Exadaktylos, (Eds.) Policy Styles and Trust in the Age of Pandemics. 191-208. New York: Routledge
• Mulligan, T., Taylor, K., DeLeo, R. (2019). Politics and Policies for Managing Natural Hazards In Susan L. Cutter, (Eds.) Oxford Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• DeLeo, R. (2018). Political Sciences Perspectives on Disaster Ethics In Dónal P. O’Mathúna, Vilius Dranseika and Bert Gordijn, (Eds.) Disaster Ethics: Basic Concepts and Normative Theories. New York: Springer
• DeLeo, R. (2018). Agenda Setting on Natural Hazards Issues In Susan L. Cutter, (Eds.) Oxford Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• DeLeo, R. (2014). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: A Policy Perspective In Thomas R. Oliver , (Eds.) Guide to U.S. Health and Health Care Policy. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press