Thomas Gais is director of the Rockefeller Institute of Government. He has conducted research and written on American federalism; the implementation of social programs, especially welfare reform, by state and local governments; state spending on social programs and the effects of state fiscal capacity and economic changes; nonprofit social service organizations and their relations with state and local governments; campaign finance reforms and their implementation and effects; state constitutional reform processes; and interest groups in the U.S. Gais received his doctorate in political science from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.