Larry M. Bartels

Larry M. Bartels is an award-winning American academic and author who has written extensively on topics related to American politics, economics, and history. He is currently the May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science, a joint appointment at Vanderbilt University and the University of Pennsylvania. Bartels is also affiliated with the American Enterprise Institute, where he directs the AEI Politics and Policy Scholars Program.

Bartels is a native of New Jersey who earned a B.A. in economics from Williams College in 1976 and his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1981. After completing his doctoral studies, he accepted a teaching position at the University of Rochester, where he served as the acting chair of the political science department from 1993 to 1994. Bartels then served as a professor of government at Princeton University from 1994 to 2003 before moving to Vanderbilt in 2004.

Bartels' research focuses primarily on public opinion and voting behavior, mass media and politics, political polarization, and election forecasting. His books include Unequal Democracy: The Political Economy of the New Gilded Age (2008), Presidential Primaries and the Dynamics of Public Choice (2011), and Democracy for Realists: Why Elections Do Not Produce Responsive Government (2016). Bartels' books are widely used in undergraduate and graduate courses in political science, economics, and American studies.

Bartels has been a visiting scholar at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy at Brigham Young University, and the University of Michigan's Center for Political Studies. He has served as a consultant for the World Bank, U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Bureau of Economic Research. Bartels was also the eighth president of the Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) and the American Political Science Association (APSA). Bartels is currently a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, and the Council of Foreign Relations.

Bartels has received prestigious awards for his scholarly work, including the Donald Campbell Award for “Best Empirical Article in Social Science,” the John J. Carty Award for the “Advancement of Science,” and the Warren E. Miller Award for “Lifetime Achievement in the Social Sciences.” In 2016, Bartels received the Gold Medal Award for Lifetime Achievement in Political Science Research from the American Political Science Association.

Bartels is an internationally recognized authority on public opinion, politics, and voting behavior. He has appeared as a consultant, panelist, and commentator on television and radio, and has been quoted in many publications. Bartels' work provides invaluable insights into the American political system and the dynamics of electoral and public opinion behavior, making it an ideal resource for those exploring issues related to American politics, economics, and history.