John C. Morris

Education

PhD, Auburn University

MA, Auburn University

BA, Auburn University

About Me

John C. Morris is the J.D. Hudson Chair of Public Policy and Dean’s Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of Political Science at Auburn University. He has been a member of the Auburn faculty since 2019. He also holds an appointment as a Visiting Researcher and 2024 Da Vinci Fellow at the University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands, and is Affiliated Faculty at the Auburn Water Resources Center. Prior to his arrival at Auburn, Dr. Morris served as a faculty member at Old Dominion University from 2002-2019, and at Mississippi State University from 1994-2002. He received his Ph.D. in Public Policy and Administration from Auburn University in 1994. He has also served as Research Coordinator at the Center for Governmental Services at Auburn University, and as a Research Associate with Policy Studies Associates, Inc., in Washington, DC.

Dr. Morris teaches courses in collaboration, public policy, organization theory, environmental management, and policy evaluation in both the Master of Public Administration program and PhD in Public Administration and Public Policy programs. He has won numerous teaching awards over the course of his career and is the 2025 recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan award at Auburn University. He also serves on the editorial boards of four journals, has served on the program committee for three national conferences, and is a member of several professional organizations and honoraries.

His research interests include water governance, collaboration, public-private partnerships, water infrastructure policy, federalism, and environmental governance. He has published in journals such as Public Administration Review, Policy Studies Journal, the Journal of Politics, the American Review of Public Administration, Publius, Voluntas, Politics and Policy, PS: Political Science, Public Works Management & Policy, the Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, State and Local Government Review, and Environmental Politics, among others. To date he has published fourteen books, over 150 scholarly articles and book chapters, and delivered more than 120 conference papers. Dr. Morris currently has four book manuscripts under contract, as well as several journal manuscripts and book chapters.

Research Interests

Water governance, collaboration, environmental policy, federalism, environmental infrastructure

Publications

Recent Books

Adams, David P., Jonathan M. Fisk, and John C. Morris. 2026. Navigating Water Outcomes in American Watersheds. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Farley, Jonathan D., Jonathan M. Fisk, and John C. Morris. 2024. The Drought Dilemma: States, Innovation, and the Politics of Water Quantity. New York: Routledge.

Morris, John C. 2022. Clean Water Policy and State Choice: Promise and Performance in the Water Quality Act. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Rawat, Pragati, and John C. Morris. 2022. The Effects of Technology and Institutions on E-Participation: A Cross-National Analysis. New York: Routledge Press.

Morris, John C., Martin K. Mayer, Robert C. Kenter, and R. Bruce Anderson. 2022. Policy Making and Southern Distinctiveness. New York: Routledge Press.

McNamara, Madeleine, and John C. Morris. 2021. Multiorganizational Arrangements for Watershed Protection: Working Better Together. New York: Routledge.

Diaz-Kope, Luisa, and John C. Morris. 2019. Organizational Motivation for Collaboration: Theory and Evidence. Lanham, MD: Lexington Press.

Morris, John C., Martin K. Mayer, Robert C. Kenter, and Luisa Lucero. 2019. State Politics and the Affordable Care Act: Choices and Decisions. New York: Routledge.

Morris, John C., and Katrina Miller-Stevens, eds. 2016. Advancing Collaboration Theory: Models, Typologies, and Evidence. New York: Routledge.

Recent Refereed Journal Publications

Ugowuoke, Jude, and John C. Morris. (2027, forthcoming). “Efficiency in Democratic Accountability: A Systematic Literature Review of Deborah Stone’s Framework.” Accepted for publication in the Journal of Public Management and Social Policy, August 2026.

Goidel, Spencer, Joseph A. Aistrup, John C. Morris, Martin K. Mayer, R. Bruce Anderson, and Robert C. Kenter. (2026). “Reproductive Rights, Reframed: Federalism and Vote Choice in the 2024 Election. PS: Political Science, 2026:1-7. doi:10.1017/S1049096526102376.

Mahato, Binita, Xi Chen, Steven McKnight, Nurun Naher, Xiaodan Zhang, Joseph Aistrup, Jonathan M. Fisk, and John C. Morris. 2026. “Regional Disparities and Risk Factors in US Drinking Water Violations: Analyzing Trends from 2006 to 2020.” Social Science Quarterly, 107,3 (e70156). Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70156.

Heim-LaFrombois, Megan E., and John C. Morris. 2026. “Assessing Local Capacity in Alabama, US, to Plan for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure.” Book of Abstracts: International Conference on Resilient Systems (ICRS), Delft, Netherlands, pp. 82-85. Available at https://doi.org/10.6100/qp5f-nb93.

Chen, Xi, Jonathan M. Fisk, John C. Morris, and Ryan Scott. 2026. “Explaining State Investment in Drinking Water Infrastructure for Disadvantaged Communities, 1997-2016.” Utilities Policy, (published online March 2026). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2026.102177.

Morris, John C., Jonathan M. Fisk, Megan E. Heim-LaFrombois, and Franziska Baack. 2026. “A Comparative Study of Water Allocation and Drought in Three US States.” Water Policy, 28,1: 1-18. Available at https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2025.350.

Nyadzi, Bennet, and John C. Morris. 2026. “E-Government and Public Trust in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review and Research Agenda.” International Journal of Public Administration, 49,3: 178-202. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2025.2597453.

Naher, Nurun, Jonathan M. Fisk, John C. Morris, Joseph A. Aistrup, David Adams, and Adam Mayer. (2026). “Inspector-Level Bureaucracy: Drilling into Discretion in a State Natural Resource Agency.” Environmental Policy and Governance, 36,1: 135-148. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002/eet.70038

Naher, Nurun, Joseph A. Aistrup, Jonathan M. Fisk, Adam P. Mayer, and John C. Morris. (forthcoming 2026). “Digging Deeper: Examining Oil and Gas Violations in Pennsylvania from 2010 to 2022.” Social Science Quarterly, 106,6 (published online November 2025). Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/ssqu.70106

Morris, John C., and Megan Heim-LaFrombois. 2025. “Trump 2.0: Accountability and Transparency as Public Administration Values in the Trump Presidency.” Administrative Theory & Praxis, 48,2: 135-142. Available at https://doi.org/ 10.1080/10841806.2025.2595587

Fisk, Jonathan M., Kellie Falbo, Mac-Jane Crayton, Steven P. McKnight, and John C. Morris. 2025. “Big Ideas but Bigger Barriers? Tracing Participation in a Local Voluntary Environmental Program.” Public Organization Review, 25,4: 1879-1894. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-025-00916-y.

Chandel, Deepika, Joseph A. Aistrup, and John C. Morris. 2025. “State-Level Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Examination of Policy Adoption in the South vs Non-South States.” Journal of Political Science, 52,1: article 2. Available at: https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops/vol52/iss1/2.

Aistrup, Joseph A., John C. Morris, and Binita Mahato. 2025. “Geographic Sorting of Landslide Presidential Counties: The South in Regional Context.” Journal of Political Science, 53,1: 119-145. Available at https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/jops.

Aistrup, Joseph A., John C. Morris, Martin Mayer, Robert Kenter, and R. Bruce Anderson. 2025. “Dog Catches Car: The Dobbs Decision and Public Opinion.” Journal of Political Science, 53 (2025): 11-34.

Morris, John C., Joseph A. Aistrup, Zoe Nemerever, and Xiaodan Zhang. 2024. “Explaining State Allocation Shares Under the Water Quality Act of 1987: Incrementalism or Need?” Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 55,2: 353-378. Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/publius/pjae045.

Morris, John C., and Bennet Nyadzi. 2024. “Using Punctuated Equilibrium Theory to Explain Organizational Change: The Case of the U.S. Coast Guard.” Politics & Policy, 52,6: 1417-1436.  Available at https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12638.

Aistrup, Joseph A., and John C. Morris. 2024. “Does Institutional Location Matter? The Effect of Agency Type on Resource Distribution for Nonpoint Water Pollution.” Water Policy, 26, 10, 1039-1055. Available at https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2024.178.

Zhang, Xiaodan, John C. Morris, Jonathan M. Fisk, and Martin K. Mayer. 2024. “Politics or Need? Explaining State-Level Climate Change Policy Adoption, 2007-2016.” Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, 5,2: 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1002/jci3.12020.

Vinke-de Kruijf, Joanne, Megan Heim-La Frombois, Beau Warbroek, John C. Morris, and Stefan M.M. Kuks. 2024. “Climate-Resilient Water Infrastructure: A Call to Action.” Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, 5,1: 17-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/jci3.12017.

Mayer, Martin K., John C. Morris, Xiaodan Zhang, and Madeleine W. McNamara. 2024. “Explaining State Efforts to Create TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) Agreements.” Social Science Quarterly, 105,5: 1776-1790. Available at https://doi.org/ 10.1111/ssqu.13444.

Aistrup, Joseph A., Jonathan M. Fisk, John C. Morris, and Binita Mahato. 2024. “Drilling Setbacks vs. Government Takings: The Case of Colorado’s 2018 Colorado Ballot Initiatives.” Society and Natural Resources, 37,4: 521-544.

Diaz-Kope, Luisa, Kelly Krawczyk, John C. Morris, and Sindhu Weber. 2024. “Commitment to Place as Motivation for Citizen-Based Watershed Collaboration: The “BIMBY” Effect.” Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs, 10,2: 221-238.

Fisk, Jonathan M., Paul A. Harris, Stefan M.M. Kuks, John C. Morris, and Joanne Vinke-de Kruijf. 2023. “Framing Water Infrastructure for Climate Resilience: Governance Dimensions and Challenges.” Public Works Management & Policy, 29,2: 133-145. Available at DOI: 10.1177/1087724X231212556.

Naher, Nurun, Jonathan M. Fisk, Adam Mayer, and John C. Morris. 2023. “Un’covering” Blanket Bonds: Assessing Blanket Bonds Across the States.” Extractive Industries and Society, 16 (December 2023). Available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2023.101359.

Chen, Xi, Jonathan M. Fisk, Martin K. Mayer, Madeleine W. McNamara, and John C. Morris. 2023. “Two’s Company, Three’s a Cloud: Explaining the Effect of Natural Disasters on Health-Based Violations in Drinking Water.” Risks, Hazards, and Crises in Public Policy. Available at DOI: 10.1002/rhc3.12280.

Aistrup, Joseph A., Binita Mahato, and John C. Morris. 2023. “The 1990s Party Realignment in U.S. Presidential Elections: Sorting of Counties by Blue or Red.” Social Science Quarterly, 104,4: 636-668.

Mayer, Martin, John C. Morris, Joseph A. Aistrup, R. Bruce Anderson, and Robert C. Kenter. 2023. “Dobbs, American Federalism, and State Abortion Policymaking: Restrictive Policies alongside Expansion of Reproductive Rights. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 53,2: 378-404.

Fisk, Jonathan M., Martin K. Mayer, and John C. Morris. 2023. “Redundant, Abandoned, Idled, and Neglected Infrastructure: Problems and Solutions for the 21^st Century.” Public Works Management & Policy, 28,1: 4-10. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/1087724X221128816.

Aistrup, Joseph A., David A. Breaux, John C. Morris, and Rick Travis. 2022. “Voter Photo ID Laws in the U.S.: Back to the Southern Dummy Variable.” Journal of Election Administration Research & Practice, 1,2: 47-68.

Diaz-Kope, Luisa, and John C. Morris. 2022. “Why Collaborate? Exploring the Role of Organizational Motivations in Cross-Sector Watershed Collaboration.” Politics & Policy, 50,3: 516-539.

Kenter, Robert C., Martin K. Mayer, and John C. Morris. 2022. “Explaining State Differences in Firearm Legislation: A South/Non-South Analysis.” Social Science Quarterly, 103,6: 1371-1380.

Kuchina-Musina, Dolores, and John C. Morris. 2022. “Buying Innovation: An Examination of Public-Private Partnerships and the Decision Process for Contracting Out Innovation.” Politics & Policy, 50,3: 505-515.

Mayer, Martin K., John C. Morris, Ryan D. Williamson, Steven P. McKnight, Jan C. Hume, Nurun Naher, Sindhu Weber, and Xiaodan Zhang. 2022. “Politics or Need? Explaining State Protective Measures in the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Social Science Quarterly, 103,5: 1140-1154.

McNamara, Madeleine W., and John C. Morris. 2022. “Expanding the Utility of Cross-Sectoral Collaboration in Policy Studies: Present and Future.” Policy Studies Yearbook, 12,1: 53-70.

Morris, John C., Ryan D. Williamson, and A. Stanley Meiburg. 2021. “Contours of a National Infrastructure Policy for the New Millennium.” Public Works Management & Policy, 26,3: 200-209.

Williamson, Ryan D., John C. Morris, and Jonathan M. Fisk. 2021. “Institutional Variation, Professionalization, and State Implementation Choices: An Examination of Investment in Water Quality Across the Fifty States.” American Review of Public Administration, 51,6: 436-448.

LaPlant, James, John C. Morris, and Todd G. Shields. 2021. “Introduction to the Symposium: A Reexamination of Southern Distinctiveness Through the Lens of Firearm Policy.” Social Science Quarterly, 103,6: 1329-1341. Available at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ssqu.13013.

Williamson, Ryan D., and John C. Morris 2021. “Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic for Federalism and Infrastructure: A Call to Action.” Public Works Management & Policy, 26,1: 6-12.

Fisk, Jonathan M., Geoffrey Silvera, John C. Morris, Xi Chen, Jan C. Hume, Xiaofeng Chen, and Mac-Jane Crayton. 2021. “Toward the Roux: Explaining the Adoption of Inclusionary Practices in Local Government.” State & Local Government Review, 52,2: 89-102.

Kenter, Robert C., John C. Morris, Martin K. Mayer, and Jacob M. Newton. 2020. “Reconsidering State Variation in Incarceration Rates.” Politics & Policy, 48,6: 1029-1061.

Bowling, Cynthia J., Jonathan M. Fisk, and John C. Morris. 2020. “Seeking Patterns in Chaos: Transactional Federalism in the Trump Administration’s Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” American Review of Public Administration, 50, 6-7: 512-518.

Kuchina-Musina, Dolores, John C. Morris, and Joshua Steinfeld. 2020. “Drivers and Differentiators: A Grounded Theory Study of Procurement in Public and Private Organizations.” Journal of Public Procurement, 20,3: 265-285.

McNamara, Madeleine W., Katrina Miller-Stevens, and John C. Morris. 2020. “Exploring the Determinants of Collaboration Failure.” International Journal of Public Administration, 43,1: 49-59.

Heilman, John, Gerald W. Johnson, John C. Morris, and Laurence J. O’Toole, Jr. 2024. “Water Policy Networks in the U.S.” In Laurence J. O’Toole, Jr. and Jeremy R. Richardson, eds. Networks for Water Policy: A Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge, 2024, 80-109 (revised and reissued from 1994).

Mayer, Martin K., and John C. Morris. “Solution or Trouble? Privatization and Rural Governments.” In James Clinger, Donna Handley, and Wendy L. Eaton, eds., Local Government Administration in Small Town America, Routledge (2023).

Nguyen, Lien, Pragati Rawat, and John C. Morris. “Accountability in the Context of Privatisation Policy Implementation.” In Sullivan, H., Dickenson, H., and Henderson, H., eds., The Palgrave Handbook of the Public Servant, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020. Available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03008-7_24-2. 

Reports and Other Publications

Goidel, Spencer, Paul A. Harris, Megan E. Heim-LaFrombois, John C. Morris, Jose Vasconcelos, Alisha Amin, Pourya Kabirkoohi, Bennet Nyadzi, and Xiaodan Zhang. 2025. White Paper: Assessing the Capacity of Local Officials in Alabama to Plan for Weather Resilient Water Infrastructure and Management. Auburn, AL: Department of Political Science. Produced under the auspices of a grant from the Alabama Water Resources Research Institute.

Morris, John C. 2025. Review of Ettouney, Mohammed M. 2025. Climate Change Effects on Civil Infrastructure: Decision-Making. Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002/jci3.70008.

Morris, John C., and Martin K. Mayer. 2024. “Canaries in Coal Mines and Normal Accidents: The CrowdStrike Outage and its Lessons for Critical Infrastructure.” Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy, 5,2: 61-64. DOI: 10.1002/jci3.12021.

Fisk, Jonathan M., Paul A. Harris, Stefan M.M. Kuks, John C. Morris, and Joanne Vinke-DeKruijf. 2024. “Water Infrastructure and Governance in an Age of Climate Change. Sage Perspectives, July 2024. Available at: https://perspectivesblog.sagepub.com/blog/research/water-infrastructure-and-governance-in-an-age-of-climate-change

Fisk, Jonathan M., John C. Morris, and Megan Heim- La Frombois. 2024. “The South’s Aging Water Infrastructure is Getting Pounded by Climate Change—Fixing It is Also a Struggle.” The Conversation, 12 April. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-souths-aging-water-infrastructure-is-getting-pounded-by-climate-change-fixing-it-is-also-a-struggle-227672.

Morris, John C. 2023. “Review of Verveij, et al., Assessing the Performance Advantage of Public-Private Partnerships: A Comparative Perspective.” Public Works Management & Policy (March 2023). DOI: 10.1177/1087724X231165675.

Mayer, Martin K., and John C. Morris. 2023. “Crowdfunding Local Government: Belmont’s Bicycle Sunday Program.” In James Clinger, Donna Handley, and Wendy L. Eaton, eds., Local Government Administration in Small Town America, Routledge.

Rawat, Pragati, and John C. Morris. 2022. “Investment in Technology is Not Enough to Guarantee E-Participation in Politics.” Blog entry written for the London School of Economics European Institute, London School of Economics. Available at https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2022/01/24/investment-in-technology-is-not-enough-to-guarantee-e-participation-in-politics/.

Fisk, Jonathan, John C. Morris, Geoffrey Silvera, Xiaofeng Chen, Xi Chen, Mac-Jane Crayton, and Jan Hume. 2022. “For Local Governments, Adopting More Inclusionary Practices is About Preparation and Action.” Blog entry written for the London School of Economics Phelan US Centre, London School of Economics. 

McNamara, Brian K., and John C. Morris. 2020. “Crossing the Bar to Cross the Streams: Kingdon’s Policy Streams Applied to Vessel Status.”  Loyola Maritime Law Journal, 19,1: 1-31.

Morris, John C., and Richard G. Little. 2020. “From the Editors.” Public Works Management & Policy. Cover article for symposium on COVID-19 and Infrastructure.