Center For The Study Of Democratic Institutions

Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair and professor of political science, and co-director of the Vanderbilt Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, joins Provost C. Cybele Raver to discuss how transparency and increasing public literacy about statistics—including an awareness of limitations—can disrupt Americans’ mounting distrust in polling data. Read More

Josh Clinton, who holds the Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair and serves as professor of political science and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, has been named a 2024 Andrew Carnegie Foundation Fellow. He joins 27 other scholars nationwide being recognized for their research into the polarization of society and the fortification of our democracy. Read More

A little savvy when it comes to interpreting political polls can be very helpful for members of the public looking for some insight. Read More

To say that this has been a crazy year in politics is a laugh-out-loud understatement. We turn to the experts in Vanderbilt’s renowned political science department for insight not only into the 2016 presidential race, but also into the future of U.S. politics itself. Read More

The newest Vanderbilt Poll results will be released 11 a.m. Dec 3 at the Student Life Center. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers studied 1,307 appointments made by the Obama administration in its first six months, seeking data about the appointees’ education, work history and political involvement. Read More

Josh Clinton and John Geer will present results from the latest Vanderbilt Poll of public opinion in Tennessee on May 21 in the Student Life Center. Read More

Losing experienced employees from federal service jobs can have serious consequences, and there's a good way to lessen the chances of that happening, a new study shows. Read More

Whether politicians and the press seem like friend or foe, elected officials regularly use news outlets to share and defend their views to the public. New research from Vanderbilt University finds certain media actually influenced the voting behavior of politicians. Read More

Research by Vanderbilt political science professor Alan Wiseman and his coauthors find women in Congress in the minority party are more effective than their male counterparts when it comes to introducing and negotiating bills, spurring action on those bills, and ultimately seeing them become law. Read More

Tennessee voters prefer the state run the online Health Care Exchange required by the Affordable Health Care Act, according to a new poll from Vanderbilt University. More than 45 questions were asked of voters on a variety of subjects. Read More

Watch video of a lunchtime panel discussion on “Election 2012 and the Congressional ‘Lame Duck’: What’s at Stake?”. The panel, hosted by Vanderbilt’s Office of Federal Relations and the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, will be moderated by Beth Fortune, vice chancellor for public affairs, and will feature: John… Read More

One of Mitt Romney’s latest campaign commercials against President Barack Obama seems to be hitting a nerve among independent voters, data from the Vanderbilt/YouGov Ad Rating Project shows. Read More

Positive ads from President Obama won't get the job done of defeating challenger Mitt Romney in the presidential race, data from the Vanderbilt/YouGov Ad Rating Project continues to suggest. Read More

Nearly a third of American voters finds a new ‘positive’ ad by President Obama contrasting his approach to the economy with that of Mitt Romney to be 'disgusting.' Read More

Voter reaction to campaign advertisements by the presidential candidates will be evaluated this fall through a partnership between Vanderbilt University and YouGov, a prominent research firm. Read More

The latest Vanderbilt poll shows Republican Mitt Romney firmly in position to win the state of Tennessee in the presidential election in November. Read More

This week on VUCast, Vanderbilt’s weekly newscast  highlighting research, experts, students, sports and everything Vanderbilt: Provocative Politics: the power of a sensational ad See the Civil War through the eyes of those who stayed at home Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine goes hip hop [vucastblurb]… Read More

Rebecca Traister, a Salon.com senior writer who covered the 2008 presidential race from a feminist and personal perspective, will speak at Vanderbilt University’s Stevenson Center at 7 p.m. Feb. 22. Read More

Vanderbilt political scientist David E. Lewis says a move for authority to shrink the federal government by President Obama is an attempt to preempt Republican challenger Mitt Romney from positioning himself as the candidate associated with government efficiency. Read More