American Government and Politics
The study of American government at Berkeley entails learning about U.S. political institutions and processes, about the main theories that scholars have invented to explain how and why they work, and about how to do research that can strengthen knowledge about them. The interests of the American government faculty are very broad, embracing elites, masses, intermediary groups, organizations, individuals, and policies; Congress, the Presidency and the executive branch, parties, interest groups, the mass media, policy analysis, state and local government, voting and public opinion, and race and ethnicity. Our program strives to offer a balanced approach between the major methodologies employed in the study of American politics, including rational choice, historical/developmental, behavioral and institutional. Students join in the work of the faculty, or carve out their own agendas, according to their inclinations.
View Berkeley's recent publications in American Government and Politics
Professors with special interests in this field:
- Terri Bimes
- Henry E. Brady - parties, voting, policy
- Bruce E. Cain - state and local politics, California politics, legislatures
- Jack Citrin - public opinion, ethnic politics, multiculturalism
- Rui de Figueiredo - institutional analysis/formal theory
- Sean Gailmard - American political institutions, bureaucratic politics, Congressional-bureaucratic relations, legislative politics
- David Karol - American political institutions, parties, and interest groups
- Taeku Lee - racial politics, public opinion, political behavior, social movements, Asian American politics
- Paul Pierson - public policy, political economy, and the welfare state
- Eric Schickler - Congress, American political development, political parties
- Jasjeet S. Sekhon - elections, public opinion, and policy evaluation
- J. Merrill Shanks - election behavior and public opinion
- Laura Stoker - national elections, public opinion
- Rob Van Houweling
- Margaret Weir - urban politics, social welfare
- Raymond E. Wolfinger - voting behavior, Congress