Joseph Cozza is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Rice University who specializes in American and Comparative Public Law. His research focuses on participatory constitution-making, constitutional amendments, direct and deliberative democracy, and party politics. He is especially interested in examining how and when citizen participation and deliberation can enhance the legitimacy of democratic outcomes, particularly in the constitutional arena. In his current research, Professor Cozza uses qualitative, quantitative, and experimental methods to analyze referendum processes here in Texas, participatory constitutional amendment procedures in Europe, cross-national constitutional amendment rates, and party leadership selection in Western parliamentary systems.