Thomas Bell is the Assistant Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions.

Broadly speaking, Bell's research and teaching lie at the intersection of public law and American politics, focusing specifically on the separation of powers. He is the author of The Constitution of Conflict: How the Supreme Court Undermines the Separation of Powers (University Press of Kansas, 2025). He has published articles in Polity and Presidential Studies Quarterly, and he has a book chapter in Beyond Checks and Balances: The Political Purpose of the Separation of Powers (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2026), edited by Connor Ewing, Benjamin Kleinerman, and Charles Zug.

Bell’s first academic appointment was at Knox College where he taught in the Department of Political Science and International Relations from 2019-2026, and where he served as the inaugural director of the Etz Family Institute for Civic Leadership & Dialogue. He was promoted to associate professor and granted tenure in May 2025. At Knox, Bell taught courses in American politics, American political thought, the presidency, and constitutional interpretation. His colleagues recognized his teaching by awarding him the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2023. Bell received his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Texas at Austin and his B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio.