Q&A

 

Q. What are your research interests? Your mission?

A. The main focus of my research is American politics, especially elections, political behavior, public opinion, and political psychology. I also serve as the research director of the Center on Congress and director of the Center on American Politics. I am interested in the evolution of political issues—how they gain a foothold in American politics, how they evolve over time, and what impact they have on electoral coalitions. In this regard I have examined how race became a nationally salient issue in the aftermath of World War II and how it transformed the existing structure of American politics. I am currently studying how the public is responding to the increasing ideological polarization between our major political parties. This increased partisan polarization has led to more political involvement and greater influence among the most ideological segment of the electorate but less ideologically-motivated citizens have become less engaged in politics and more disconnected from both parties.

 

Q. Talk about your department and where it fits into your research.

A. The political science department at IU like most other departments in the country is organized around various fields, one of which is American politics. Beginning in the mid to late 1950s American politics took on renewed importance in the department, primarily under the influence of the late Charles Hyneman. Hyneman was especially important in training graduate students in American politics and the first wave of major doctoral student placements in the field took place under his direction. Since then, the department has continued to be a major place for training graduate students in American politics and has placed them at major places for training graduate students in American politics and has placed them at colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. My department, in short, has provided a very supportive environment for my research and teaching.

 

Q. Speak to the meaning of excellence in your life and work and how you foster excellence in your associates and colleagues.

A. I have benefitted greatly from Indiana University’s commitment to excellence in research and teaching. Since I began my academic career here in 1975 I have had several opportunities to take positions at other universities but have remained at IU, mostly because of the support and freedom I have been given to pursue my research and teaching. The experience I have had working with outstanding administrators and fellow faculty members inside and outside the department coupled with being able to train the next generation of teacher/scholars in political science has been unmatched elsewhere.

 

Q. Mention any special honors.

A. I have been fortunate to be elected as a fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In addition I have held fellowships at the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University. I am the President-elect of the Midwest Political Science Association and will be the John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Government at the University of Oxford during Trinity term, 2014.

 

Q. What are your interests outside of research?

A. My major interests besides teaching and writing about politics are reading, travelling, watching sports and playing bocce ball on the beaches at Cape Cod.

 

This interview originally appeared in Excellence, an IU newsletter.