Prof. Michael Hartney

Michael T. Hartney is a Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, an adjunct fellow at 

the Manhattan Institute, and an associate professor of political science at Boston College. 

Hartney’s scholarly expertise is in American politics and public policy. His work has been 

published in top academic journals such as the American Political Science Review, the American 

Journal of Political Science and Perspectives on Politics and garnered media coverage from 

the Economist, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. Hartney also writes 

regularly for popular outlets including City Journal, Education Next, National Review, and the

Washington Post.

Hartney’s first book, How Policies Make Interest Groups: Governments, Unions, and American 

Education was published late last year by the University of Chicago Press. The book examines 

the origins, power, and activities of America’s teachers’ unions and shows how governments 

have long subsidized the unions’ political organizing efforts, enabling them to wield outsized 

influence in American education. Before his academic career, he worked as a policy analyst for 

the National Governors Association, where he provided analysis to state policymakers on a wide 

range of school reform issues, from teacher and principal quality to high school redesign. 

Hartney earned his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and his bachelor’s degree from 

Vanderbilt University.