Robert Dietterick is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at Brown University. His research primarily focuses on the enactment and implementation of gun violence regulatory policies across US states. Drawing on original panel data, his dissertation investigates when firearm regulation is effective — focusing on how elected officials, interest groups, and bureaucrats in state government navigate polarizing politics, the institutional terrain, firearm culture, and threats of gun violence. A central component of his research analyzes extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), which he argues are valuable tools for gun violence prevention with a higher likelihood of adoption than other policies in states more resistant to regulation.

Prior to joining Brown, he earned an MA in political science at Marquette University, where he contributed to a grant-funded project studying the use of federal stimulus funds provided by the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support the implementation of community violence interventions (CVIs), particularly in school districts. He also holds a BA in political science, with a minor in psychology, from DePaul University.