Cameron Tilley
About
I am a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Duke University, fielding in political institutions and normative political theory. Before attending Duke, I received a B.A. in mathematical economics from Hampden-Sydney College, where I later worked as Assistant Dean of Admissions for two years. My research interests include the study of norms, civil society, and public choice. I use network analysis and text as data to investigate these topics while maintaining rich philosophical foundations.
Publications and Current Projects
Research Philosophy
There are rules that aren’t written down, are not formally enforced, but that nonetheless allow groups of people to coordinate their actions and expectations. For my dissertation, I chose to write on these norms, manners, and customs of society that are partly substitutes for, and are partly supporting complements for, formal rules. My conjecture, which I am able to sustain using both theory and a variety of empirical observations, is that norms are a vital part of governance broadly and the specific functions of government. This perspective was once an essential part of political theory and science. It is in the reuniting of those traditions that my work most closely fits.
Race, risk, and greed: Harold Black's contributions to the institutional economics of finance
Dr. Harold Black has made a career of investigating the effects of different rules and institutional arrangements on the extent to which market participants in finance can exercise a taste for discrimination. This paper considers the nature of Black's contributions, and reviews some particulars of his voluminous published research, focusing especially on his work on the number of "overages" charged by banks, and the differences in the effects of the race of bank owners, as explained by the race of customers. The paper concludes by connecting Dr. Black’s work to his “origin story,” which helps explain his consistent focus on careful empirical distinctions rather than preconceptions and biases.
The Miraculous Old-Time Fiscal Religion: How a Political Norm Discouraged Deficit Spending
Buchanan and Wagner (1977) explain why democratic politicians have a strong incentive to run large deficits year after year. However, during much of the country's history, the US federal budget was close to essentially balanced. Why? Buchanan and Wagner claim prior to the Keynesian Revolution, American politicians believed in an old-time fiscal religion that favored balance budgets and surpluses, justifying deficits only in times of crisis. While much research has been done on the effects of deficit spending, little has been done on why the old-time fiscal religion held for so long despite the incentives to break it. This paper fills this gap by examining how this norm emerged, was maintained, and eventually changed. To do so, this paper uses speeches from the 60th to the 96th Congresses as data to discover the essential characteristics of the old-time fiscal religion norm. The paper provides insight not only into the issue of deficits but also into the important role norms play in political institutions and political decision-making.
What are My Neighbors Doing: the Effects of Social Capital on Voluntary Collective Action
This paper investigates social capital's role in solving the collective action problem of volunteering. Social Capital will be treated as the network of connections in a community. The results of formal and agent-based modeling show voluntary behavior will spread from only a few social entrepreneurs in a population playing a Stag Hunt Variant game if the network is optimally dense. Both low and high levels of social capital can hinder social entrepreneurs from spreading voluntary behavior. This parallels James Buchanan's (1981) conception of moral anarchy, moral order, and moral community.
Get in Touch
500 Terry Francois Street, 6th Floor. San Francisco, CA 94158
9199869405
Teaching Experience
Teaching Philosophy
Our job as teacher is more than reading out “information” from graduate school notes, and then giving exams. And with the advent of AI tools and search engines, the traditional “midterm, paper, and a final” format has gone the way of the dodo. I see these technologically forced changes as an opportunity. College teachers can look to become guides to the impossibly complex, and unmanageably voluminous accumulation of information. Are we “guiding” students on the path to truth? Again, no. Not only is there no one truth, there is no one path to learning. Our role is better thought of as an English Gardener helping students develop their own thoughts through class discussions and numerous extracurricular programs.
Writing 101: Philosophy, Politics, & Economics
I designed this first-year undergraduate writing course and am serving as the instructor of record at Duke University. The philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE) approach seeks to reach back to when fields were not so clearly differentiated in the hopes that this will foster exchange between the fields of study. While the course will be writing and discussion intensive, the first part will be a brief overview of the key concepts of the fields. Classes will then become guided seminars where students discuss major works focusing on how the authors construct their arguments. We will take time for lessons on the research process throughout the seminar. Students will learn how to formulate research questions, write arguments, manage citations, and revise their work.
PP&E Gateway: Prisoner’s Dilemma & Distributive Justice
I was a TA for this class in Fall 2022 under Dr. Alex Rosenberg and in Spring 2023 under Dr. Richard Salsman. This is the introductory class for Duke University's undergraduate Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Certificate Program. The course examines historical and contemporary accounts of the factual and normative foundations and interrelations of two of our most important institutions: markets and the government that enforces them. The course is interdisciplinary, intersecting moral theories and agendas made explicit or implicit in philosophy, political science, and economics. The broad aim is to investigate and illustrate how and why these three disciplines are indispensable to addressing and answering the factual and normative questions posed by each.
Get in Touch
Duke Political Science
140 Science Drive
Campus Box 90204
Durham, NC 27708
Email: cameron.tilley@duke.edu
Phone: 9199869405