The field of American Politics encompasses the study of the structure and dynamics of mass behavior and opinion and of the major governmental and extragovernmental institutions, their interrelationships, their historical evolution and their role in the policy process. Specifically, the field covers the major national government institutions (presidency, Congress, bureaucracy and courts); subnational governments and the federal system; extragovernmental organizations such as parties, interest groups and social movements; the behavior and opinions of elites and masses who operate within these institutions and organizations who may seek (as in the case of elections and voting) to influence them; the impact of institutions, organizations, and actors on public policy; the determinants of public policy; the legal and constitutional context in which politics occurs; and changes in all of these elements and their relations with each other and with society over time.  The UW American Politics program is ranked by US News as one of the top 10 in the country.

Research Groups

• American Politics Workshop - website
• Wisconsin Advertising Project - website
• NewsLab - website
• Political Behavior Research Group - website
• Read about all research groups in all fields...

Journals Edited by Faculty in American Politics

• The Forum - Byron Shafer
• Legislative Studies Quarterly - David Canon
• Polity - John Coleman

2008-2009 Awards and Honors

FACULTY

Donald Downs
-Honored Instructor Award, Chadbourne Residential College

Charles Franklin
-New York Times, 8th Annual Year in Ideas, for Pollster.com

Kenneth Goldstein
-Distinguished Teaching Award, UW-Madison
-Honored Instructor Award, Chadbourne Residential College

Donald Moynihan
-Joe Wholey Award, American Society for Public Administration, for the best article on performance management in 2008: "Measuring How Administration Shapes Citizenship: A Policy Feedback Perspective on Performance Management," Public Administration Review 68(5): 908-920
-Romnes Faculty Fellowship, UW-Madison

Dhavan Shah
-Lynne Rienner Publishers Best Paper Award, recognizing the best scholarly article published about information technology and politics in the previous year, American Political Science Association Information Technology and Politics organized section, for Dhavan V. Shah,"Campaign Ads, Online Messaging, and Participation: Extending the Communication Mediation Model, Journal of Communication 57, 4 (2007): 676-703, 2008 (with co-authors)

David Weimer
-Named a Fellow-Elect of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), 2008

GRAD STUDENTS

Valerie Hennings
-Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, Catt Center for Women & Politics at Iowa State University, 2008

Saemyi Park
-Myung-In Talented Student Scholarship, Sookmyung Women's University, South Korea

Timothy Werner
-Hovland Journal Article Prize, Department of Political Science, for "Congressmen of the Silent South: The Persistence of Southern Racial Liberals, 1949-1964," Journal of Politics 71, 1 (2009): 70-81
-Genevieve Gorst Herfurth Award for Outstanding Research in Social Studies, UW-Madison, for "Congressmen of the Silent South: The Persistence of Southern Racial Liberals, 1949-1964," Journal of Politics 71, 1 (2009): 70-81

Amber Wichowsky
-Joe Wholey Award, American Society for Public Administration, for the best article on performance management in 2008: "Measuring How Administration Shapes Citizenship: A Policy Feedback Perspective on Performance Management," Public Administration Review 68(5): 908-920

Courses in American Politics - Fall 2009