The Logic of American Politics

Samuel Kernell is professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, where he has taught since 1977. Previously, he taught at the University of Mississippi and the University of Minnesota. Kernell’s research interests focus on the presidency and American political history. His previous books include Going Public: New Strategies of Presidential Leadership, 3rd edition; an edited collection of essays, James Madison: The Theory and Practice of Republican Government; and, with Gary C. Jacobson, The Logic of American Politics, 7th edition, and Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, 2nd edition. Kernell’s most recent book, Party Ballots, Reform and the Transformation of American Politics, (2015, with Erik Engstrom), won the APSA's David Greenstone Award for the best book in politics and history.

Gary C. Jacobson is distinguished professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, where he has taught since 1979. He previously taught at Trinity College, the University of California at Riverside, Yale University, and Stanford University. Jacobson specializes in the study of U.S. elections, parties, interest groups, and Congress. He is the author of Money in Congressional Elections: The Politics of Congressional Elections, Eighth Edition, The Electoral Origins of Dividend Government: Competition in the U.S. House Elections, 1946 - 1988, and A Divider, Not a Uniter: George W. Bush and the American People, Second Edition, and is coauthor with Samuel Kernell of Strategy and Choice in Congressional Elections, Second Edition. Jacobson is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Thad Kousser is professor of political science and department chair at the University of California, San Diego. He has served as a legislative aide in the California, New Mexico, and U.S. senates. He is the author of Term Limits and the Dismantling of State Legislative Professionalism, coauthor of The Power of American Governors and The Logic of American Politics, and coeditor of The New Political Geography of California. Kousser has been awarded the UCSD Academic Senate’s Distinguished Teaching Award, has served as coeditor of State Politics and Policy Quarterly, and serves as coeditor for state and local politics of Legislative Studies Quarterly.

Lynn Vavreck is associate professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she has taught since 2001. She previously taught at Dartmouth College and held a research position at Princeton University. Before returning to the academy, Vavreck worked in the White House and on presidential campaigns. Her research focuses mainly on the effects of campaign messaging and specifically on the impact of political advertising. She is the author of The Message Matters: The Economy and Presidential Campaigns and co-author of Campaign Reform: Insights and Evidence and The Gamble: Choice and Chance in the 2012 Election. Her political commentary can be read in The New York Times and on broadcast outlets like MSNBC, CNN, and NPR. She serves on advisory boards for the American National Election Study and the British Election Study and has twice consulted for venture-funded start-ups interested in improving the measurement of advertising and public attitudes through innovations in technology.