Christopher H. Achen

Christopher H. Achen is a renowned American political scientist and author. He is most well known for his books on public opinion and political behavior. He currently serves as the Edgar E. Robinson Professor of Political Science at Princeton University.

Achen earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1973. He then went on to receive a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 1977. After earning his degree, Achen joined Princeton University’s faculty, where he has been teaching ever since.

Achen has written, co-authored, and edited various works on political science, public opinion, and electoral behavior throughout his career. His earliest work includes The Major Partisan Realignments of the British and American Electorates, which he co-authored with W. Russell Neuman. This book was published in 1983, and it examined how major shifts in party identification occurred in both Britain and the United States.

Achen later published a solo work in 2000 that focused exclusively on the United States: Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government. In this book, Achen argues that while elections are designed to ensure responsive government, they do not actually do so. The book was praised by many, and it won the 2017 Award for Best Book in Political Behavior from the American Political Science Association.

Achen has also played a key role in the annual book series The American Voter, where he has an editor and co-author credit. The American Voter is a major reference work on the theory and methods of public opinion and electoral behavior.

In addition to his work as a professor and an author, Achen has been a contributor to various articles, newspaper editorials, book reviews, and other works of scholarship. He has also appeared in various interviews and lectures, including appearances on the PBS news show Need to Know, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio show The Current, and on Vox Media’s YouTube channel.

Achen is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on public opinion and electoral behavior. His research and writings on the subject have had a significant impact on the study of political science, and his work has been praised by his fellow scholars and pundits alike.