Research Interests

American Politics (Voting and Public Opinion, Political Parties)

Background

Professor Ronald B. Rapoport is John Marshall Professor. He received his B.A. from Oberlin College and his PhD from the University of Michigan. Since 1980 he has been doing research on U. S. party activists funded by a series of grants from the National Science Foundation. His book (with Walt Stone of UC-Davis), Three’s a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot and Republican Resurgence, has just been published by the University of Michigan Press (2005). It is based on surveys with national samples of individuals attracted to Ross Perot’s presidential campaigns between 1992 and 2000, as well as interviews with Republican and Reform party leaders. He is on the editorial board of Political Research Quarterly, and previously served on the Political Science Review Panel of the National Science Foundation. He has published more than forty articles and book chapters in the areas of political behavior, political parties and women and politics. He is the co-editor (with Alan Abramowitz and John McGlennon) of The Life of the Parties. His courses focus on American politics and public opinion and voting, as well as survey research and polling.