David P. Redlawsk has joined the University of Delaware as the James R. Soles Professor of Political Science and chair of the Department of Political Science and International Relations.
Redlawsk, professor of political science and director of the Eagleton
Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University for the past
seven years, is a political psychologist who studies voter behavior and
emotion. His research focuses on how voters process political
information to make their decisions.
He is the co-author of The Positive Case for Negative Campaigning (2014), Why Iowa? How Caucuses and Sequential Elections Improve the Presidential Nominating Process (2011) and How Voters Decide: Information Processing During an Election Campaign (2006). From 2010-15, he was co-editor of the journal Political Psychology.
Political psychology is really a growing area, Redlawsk said. Im
trained as an experimentalist, but studying political behavior means
that we rely on survey research. I try to get my students involved in
local politics and bring my own experience into the classroom.
His personal experience has been wide-ranging. Over the years, he
said, hes run for local office winning and losing as a member of both
major parties and has worked behind the scenes on campaigns. While
living in Iowa, he helped organize nominating caucuses.
Redlawsk earned his bachelors degree in political science but began
his career as a computer specialist in industry and then in higher
education. He earned masters degrees in business administration and
political science and then a doctorate in political science at Rutgers.
I found that I really enjoyed both teaching and research, he said,
and began his academic career on the faculty of the University of Iowa,
where he and a colleague founded the Hawkeye Poll. The public opinion
survey began as a project for students, and grew in national attention
because of Iowas first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses each
election cycle.
When the Eagleton Center was looking for a new director, he returned
to Rutgers, where he has focused on polling and on teaching. At UD, he
said, he hopes to continue working with students and especially to
encourage their civic engagement.
Im excited about the opportunities at the University of Delaware,
he said. We have an excellent department and a strong faculty, and I
think that our undergraduates get a great educational experience.
