She received her PhD in Public Policy and Management from the Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. Dr. Connolly’s research examines the impact of city manager turnover on local fiscal health, the impact of municipal conditions on council-manager relations, and public opinion on local policy responses to drone usage, the Zika crisis, and the sharing economy. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Political Research Quarterly, and the International Journal of Cultural Policy. She has research forthcoming in American Politics Research. ​