Matt Grossmann

I am Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. I also serve as a Senior Fellow at the Niskanen Center and a contributor at FiveThirtyEight. I am the author of The Not-So-Special Interests, Artists of the Possible, Asymmetric Politics (with David Hopkins), and Red State Blues. I host The Science of Politics podcast. Tweets by @MattGrossmann My first book, The Not-So-Special Interests: Interest Groups, Public Representation, and American Governance, was published by Stanford University Press. The book explains why certain public groups, such as Jews, lawyers, and gun-owners, develop substantially more representation than others and why certain organizations, like the National Rifle Association, become the presumed spokespersons for these groups in all types of media and all branches of government. My second book, Artists of the Possible: Governing Networks and American Policy Change Since 1945, is now available from Oxford University Press. The book argues that significant policy change arises from coalitions and compromises among institutionalized policy entrepreneurs, including presidents, interest groups, and long-serving senators. The project relies on a content analysis of 268 books and articles on the history of 14 different major policy areas over 60 years, compiling and integrating their findings to assess the factors that drive policymaking. I show that policymaking is insulated from external pressure in all branches of government and policy output fails to respond systematically to public opinion and election results. My new book, Asymmetric Politics, offers a comprehensive explanation for American party divisions: The Republican Party is the vehicle of an ideological movement while the Democratic Party is a coalition of social groups. Republican leaders prize conservatism and attract support by pledging loyalty to broad values. Democratic leaders instead seek concrete government action, appealing to voters’ group identities and interests by endorsing specific policies.

I have published journal articles on policy change, issue area differences, political party networks, interest groups, the legislative process, negative campaigning, the consulting industry, group theory, ethnic representation, environmental organizations, technology policy debates, campaign professionalization, and public opinion about campaigns. My research appears in the Journal of Politcs, American Politics Research, and twelve other journals. I am also co-author of a Campaigns & Elections textbook (W. W. Norton) and editor of the volume New Directions in Interest Group Politics (from Routledge).

In addition to academic work, I wrote a state commission report on the use of the Internet in political campaigns and co-authored a book on campaign strategy for practitioners. I also serve as the director of the Michigan Policy Network, an outlet for online reporting and research on state policy by MSU undergraduates.

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New book coming in 2021: How Social Science Got Better: Overcoming Bias with More Evidence, Diversity, and Self-Reflection
Pre-Order at Oxford or Amazon
Social science is facing mounting criticism, as canonical studies fail to replicate, questionable...

New book coming in 2021: How Social Science Got Better: Overcoming Bias with More Evidence, Diversity, and Self-Reflection

Pre-Order at Oxford or Amazon

Social science is facing mounting criticism, as canonical studies fail to replicate, questionable research practices abound, and researcher social and political biases come under fire. How Social Science Got Better provides a robust defense of the current state of the social sciences. Applying insights from the philosophy, history, and sociology of science and providing new data on research trends and scholarly views, I argues that, far from crisis, social science is undergoing an unparalleled renaissance of ever-broader understanding and application. Social science research has never been more relevant, rigorous, or self-reflective because scholars have a much better idea of their blind spots and biases. Scholars now closely analyze the impact of racial, gender, geographic, methodological, political, and ideological differences on research questions; how the incentives of academia influence our research practices; and how universal human desires to avoid uncomfortable truths and easily solve problems affect our conclusions. Though misaligned incentive structures of course remain, a messy, collective deliberation across the research community has shifted us into an unprecedented age of theoretical diversity, open and connected data, and public scholarship.

Posted 1 month ago.

Promotion

I have been promoted to (Full) Professor of Political Science at Michigan State University. I still serve as Director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research.

My latest article in Political Science Quarterly is “Limits of the Conservative Revolution in the States”

My latest op-ed:

USA Today Network: How the Pandemic will Disrupt State Partisan Agendas

Latest Red State Blues reviews & interviews:

Politics & Polls Podcast with Julian Zelizer

Interview in Governing Magazine

Review in The Guardian

Review in Education Next

Posted 4 months ago.

Talk & Writing on Red State Blues

I return to Claremont for a talk at the Ath on Red State Blues.

I also published recent commentary:

Washington Post: Don’t expect much change in VA & KY

538: GOP Control Hasn’t Stopped Growth of Government

Cambridge: Did Conservatives Transform State Education Policy?

Posted 1 year ago.

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My new book, “Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States” has arrived!
Order now: https://www.amazon.com/Red-State-Blues-Conservative-Revolution/dp/1108701752
With $5 discount code “RSB2019” here:...

My new book, “Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States” has arrived!

Order now: https://www.amazon.com/Red-State-Blues-Conservative-Revolution/dp/1108701752

With $5 discount code “RSB2019” here: http://cambridge.org/RedBlues

Posted 1 year ago.

NYT Op-Ed: GOP Goals Stymied in the States

I published an op-ed in the NYT that previews my new book, Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/19/opinion/states-republicans.html

Posted 1 year ago.

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New cards for my #ScienceOfPolitics postcard. Full episode list at:
niskanencenter.org/podcast

New cards for my #ScienceOfPolitics postcard. Full episode list at:

niskanencenter.org/podcast

Posted 1 year ago.

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Cover for my next book, Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/red-state-blues/79FF52A9FCDDE94A9D6948044EE86662

Cover for my next book, Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/red-state-blues/79FF52A9FCDDE94A9D6948044EE86662

Posted 1 year ago.

Red State Blues

I have a book coming out in late 2019 called, “Red State Blues: How the Conservative Revolution Stalled in the States”

Here’s the original proposal: https://t.co/2X13ukZed5

And ppt slides: http://matthewg.org/bostonu.pdf

Posted 1 year ago.

Partisan Media and Political Trust

I published a report for the Knight Foundation and the Niskanen Center, “Partisan Media and Political Distrust”

https://kf-site-production.s3.amazonaws.com/media_elements/files/000/000/273/original/Topos_KF_White-Paper_Grossman_V2.pdf

Summarized here: https://medium.com/trust-media-and-democracy/partisanteam-f59a45b19536

Covered here: http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/12/few-people-are-actually-trapped-in-filter-bubbles-why-do-they-like-to-say-that-they-are/

Posted 1 year ago.

538 articles

I am now a contributor to fivethirtyeight.com (officially Disney-ABC). My first two articles are up:

Voters Like a Political Party Until it Passes Laws: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voters-like-a-political-party-until-it-passes-laws/

People are Changing their Views on Race and Gender Issues to Match Their Party: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/people-are-changing-their-views-on-race-and-gender-issues-to-match-their-party/

I should also be on the election night live blog.

Posted 2 years ago.

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