John W. Patty is Professor of Political Science and Quantitative Theory & Methods at Emory University. He is currently co-editor of the Journal of Theoretical Politics and the Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions book series at Cambridge University Press.  Professor Patty’s research focuses on mathematical models of economic and political institutions.  His substantive interests include organizational decision-making, political legitimacy, legislative procedures, bureaucratic institutions, and public policy.

Professor Patty can be contacted via email at jwpatty@gmail.com. You can make an appointment to meet with Professor Patty here.

Professor Patty regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses on game theory, computational modeling, formal models of political institutions, political resistance and legitimacy, the US Congress, and the federal bureaucracy. His work has been published in American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Annual Review of Political Science, Economics & Politics, Electoral Studies, Games & Economic Behavior, Journal of Law & Courts, Journal of Politics, Journal of Political Institutions & Political Economy, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Journal of Public Policy, Journal of Theoretical Politics, Mathematical & Computer Modelling, Philosophy Compass, Politics, Philosophy, & Economics, Political Science Research & MethodsPS: Political Science & Politics, Public Choice, Quarterly Journal of Political Science,  Social Choice & Welfare, and The Good Society.

CoverHe also coauthored Learning While Governing (University of Chicago Press, 2012) with Sean Gailmard, which won the 2013 William H. Riker book award and the 2017 Herbert A. Simon book award, and Social Choice and Legitimacy: The Possibilities of Impossibility (Cambridge University Press, 2014) with Elizabeth Maggie Penn.  He currently serves on the editorial boards of American Journal of Political Science, American Politics ResearchGames, Journal of PoliticsPolitical Analysisand Political Science Research and Methods.

Professor Patty received his Ph.D. in Social Sciences in 2001 and his M.S. in Economics in 1999 from the California Institute of Technology after receiving his B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1996 and graduating from the North Carolina School for Science & Mathematics in 1992.  Prior to coming to Emory, Professor Patty was Assistant Professor of Political Economy & Decision Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, Assistant Professor of Government at Harvard University, Professor of Political Science & Director of the Center for New Institutional Social Sciences at Washington University in Saint Louis, and Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago.