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Mallory Elizabeth SoRelle

Assistant Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Sanford School of Public Policy
Box 90245, Durham, NC 27708
210 Sanford Building, Box 90245, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Mallory SoRelle is an Assistant Professor at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Her research and teaching explore how public policies are produced by, and critically how they reproduce, socioeconomic and political inequality in the United States. She focuses primarily on issues like consumer financial protection and access to civil justice that fundamentally shape the welfare of marginalized communities yet are often overlooked by scholars of the welfare state because they are not traditional redistributive programs.

Mallory is the author of Democracy Declined: The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection (University of Chicago Press, 2020), which explores the political response—by policymakers, public interest groups, and ordinary Americans—to one of the most consequential economic policy issues in the United States: consumer credit and financial regulation.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Assistant Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy · 2020 - Present Sanford School of Public Policy

In the News


Published October 3, 2023
SCOTUS Challenge Threatens Future of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Published November 1, 2020
November Books: Mallory SoRelle "Democracy Declined: The Failed Politics of Consumer Financial Protection"
Published August 25, 2020
A Decade After the 2008 Crash, the US Still Lacks Protections Against Predatory Lending

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Recent Publications


Voting access reforms and policy feedback effects on political efficacy and trust

Journal Article Policy Studies Journal · May 1, 2025 In 2020, states pursued divergent voting access reforms in an effort to facilitate a safe and secure election in the midst of a global pandemic. For some voters, options like mail-in or no-excuse absentee voting were familiar; for others, they were novel. ... Full text Cite

Deservingness and the Politics of Student Debt Relief

Journal Article Perspectives on Politics · June 25, 2024 As the pandemic accelerated calls to provide relief to millions of student borrowers, President Biden announced executive action to cancel $10,000 of student debt for most federal student loan holders. Both prior to and following his announcement, policyma ... Full text Cite

The policy feedback effects of preemption

Journal Article Policy Studies Journal · May 1, 2024 Scholars have charted a dramatic rise in the use of preemption both at the federal and state levels since the 1970s, with courts and politicians from both parties enacting preemptions across a range of contentious issues. Thus, preemption is a critical fea ... Full text Cite
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Recent Grants


CAREER: The Emerging Political Economy of FringeTech Financial Services

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2024 - 2029

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Education, Training & Certifications


Cornell University · 2016 Ph.D.
Cornell University · 2014 M.A.
Harvard University · 2010 M.P.P.
Smith College · 2006 B.A.

External Links


Personal Website