Paige Kolnes

Paige Kolnes teaches courses in U.S. politics, public policy, and constitutional law. Her previous research explores the various ways in which U.S. public policies developed alongside major economic progressions, and how such historical connections came to affect contemporary political debates. Professor Kolnes’s dissertation examined the U.S. federal government’s policy responses to deindustrialization and the widespread decline in U.S. manufacturing jobs. As an extension, her current research is analyzing how components of U.S. trade policy became uniquely institutionalized as a form of domestic social policy over time, establishing a long-term government program for industrial workers whose jobs were lost as a result of increased imports and the pursuit of more open trade practices in the United States. In addition to her research, Professor Kolnes is interested in teaching about the function and development of economic inequality in the United States, as well as U.S. institutions such as the Supreme Court, the presidency, Congress, and federalism.