Nicholas F. Jacobs is the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Chair in American Government at Colby College. His scholarship investigates the relationship between federalism and executive power, asking how the territorial allocation of authority both enables and restrains the modern administrative state in a liberal constitutional order. He is the author of multiple books and scholarly articles on federalism, rural politics, and executive power, and he co-edits the De Gruyter Series on American Political Geography. At Colby, he also directs the Bram Public Policy Lab, creating opportunities for students to study self-governance in action by working alongside public officials and civic institutions.