Currently, Clifford is completing her book manuscript Contracting Disability: Democratic Anxiety and the Disavowal of Intellectual Disability (contract with University of Minnesota Press) that bridges the fields of political theory and disability studies. The manuscript examines the role of intellectual disability in the history of social contract theory, contemporary political theory, and the disability rights movement and argues that, across these domains, anxieties over the intellectual incapacities of all democratic citizens drives the political exclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Building on the burgeoning field of critical contract theory, Clifford theorizes this exclusion as a capacity contract that bases political membership on a threshold level of cognitive capacity. Clifford’'s manuscript combines an analysis of political theory with qualitative research on the contemporary self-advocacy movement for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States.In addition, Clifford is working on a new research project analyzing the intersection between public policies mandating increased inclusion and independence for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the effects of austerity measures in the Republic of Ireland, and feminist care ethics. Clifford’'s postdoctoral fellowship with DOCTRID, an international research institute formed through a partnership of American and Irish universities, enables her to conduct qualitative research with a network of Irish service providers and agencies.Finally, Clifford is interested in public attitudes toward people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Along with Dr. Monique Lyle, she has conducted an original experiment to measure the effects of exposure to information on individual reactions of stigma.