Her research interests include American political institutions, regulation, public policy, public administration, and the influence of separation of powers on bureaucratic decision-making. Her current book project, Bending the Rules: Procedural Politics in the American Administrative State, addresses how bureaucrats use procedures to exercise power during the notice-and-comment rulemaking process. While at CSDP, Rachel will develop two articles, which will form the core of her second book project on the politics of government outsourcing: The Political Economy of Outsourcing in the American States -- Do specific political conditions make it more or less likely that a state government will outsource services it has traditionally provided?; and Savings at What Cost? Government Outsourcing and the Public Trust – What are the political costs of state government outsourcing?