Joshua D. Clinton is the Abby and Jon Winkelried Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he codirects the Vanderbilt Poll and the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, is an executive committee member for the Data Science Institute, and an advisor to the Latin American Public Opinion Project. Clinton is a two-time Emmy-nominated senior election analyst for NBC News for his election night projections and exit poll analyses, and he recently chaired the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s Task Force on 2020 Pre-Election Polling. He was the editor in chief of the Quarterly Journal of Political Science and his 40+ publications examine polarization, elections, public opinion, representation, and survey methods. After graduating from the University of Rochester, Clinton earned a PhD in political science, an MS in statistics, and an MA in economics from Stanford University. He grew up in Stittville, New York, graduated from Holland Patent Central High School, and was an Eagle Scout.
Clinton’s project, “Divided We Vote: Exploring the Crisis of Election Legitimacy in a Polarized America,” will explore public confidence and beliefs about the integrity of electoral processes and outcomes — beliefs that are critical for evaluating the strength and health of our representative democracy. In particular, he will examine how geographic polarization, the distribution of partisan political power, and variation in both who can vote and how they vote affect public perceptions of legitimacy with the goal of identifying pathways to bolster democratic trust amidst rising polarization.
May 2024
