Acknowledgments

This book is the product of many individuals who, both professionally and personally, supported me during the writing of this manuscript.

It goes without saying that this volume would not have been possible without my friend and colleague Andrew M. Bell, who was instrumental in the brainstorming and crafting of this book. Andrew, who I first met in graduate school and has been a collaborator and supporter ever since, provided invaluable insights and feedback throughout the writing process, and it is to him that I owe the greatest intellectual debt. A very early version of this project was presented with Andrew at the 2023 U.S. Army War College Civil-Military Relations Center conference.

I am especially grateful to all my colleagues at the University College London (UCL) Department of Political Science and UCL’s Centre on U.S. Politics. This includes, most of all, Julie Norman, Jeffrey Howard, Jennifer Hudson, Jonathan Monten, Michael Plouffe, Christian Schuster, and Lisa Vanhala. At UCL, I was also fortunate to have several tremendous research assistants who worked on this volume, including Anna Brierley, Rob Davidson, Dioni Ellinikaki, Victoria Krueger, Madigan Ruch, and Zoey Weisman.

I was lucky to have several fellowships that granted me an academic home and time to work on this book. I appreciate Terry Moe for enabling me to spend a term at Stanford’s Political Science Department at the outset of writing this volume. I am also grateful to Adam Smith, who provided a fellowship at Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute. I am also thankful to Greg Huber for arranging a fellowship at Yale’s Center for the Study of American Politics.

Numerous professors and teachers helped inspire my interest in political science, and in ways both obvious and not, are reflected in this book. At Duke, this includes Erik Wibbels, Pablo Beramendi, David Soskice, and Mike Munger. At Washington and Lee, I was fortunate to learn from teacher-scholars, especially Art Goldsmith, Tyler Dickovick, Jim Casey, and Tim Diette. I am further indebted to my former adviser Paul E. Peterson at Harvard, and frequent coauthor Carlos X. Lastra-Anadon at IE University.

This book also benefited immensely from the comments of anonymous referees who pushed me to clarify my thesis, which improved the text in myriad ways. The long journey from early drafts through to a completed monograph would not have been possible without them. At Cambridge, editor John Haslam was extremely generous in shepherding this book through the review process. Carrie Parkinson was especially helpful in compiling all the technical aspects of the manuscript, and Anjali Kumari did an outstanding job copyediting. I am also thankful to Kate McIntosh for her work on the book’s index.

Most of all, personally, I have been fortunate to be surrounded by incredible family, friends, and loved ones who offered unwavering encouragement during the writing of this volume. Special thanks goes to my mother, Mary Finucane, who has always been my greatest role model and has been beside me throughout the good and bad of life.

Thanks to my father, Tom Gift III, and stepfather, Mike Finucane. Thanks also to my siblings, Amber Gift, Daniel Finucane, John Finucane, and Robert Finucane. A special thank you to my friends, including especially Chris Lauderman, Neil Sheaffer, Chris Tutor, and Shane Wilson.

Finally, a note to say that I wrote this book during a time of great personal challenge and grief. For those who have battled difficult illnesses, know that things can get better. This book is dedicated to everyone who is enduring trying times and believes that there is light at the end.