Matthew Levendusky
Matthew Levendusky is currently the Penny and Robert A. Fox Director of the Fels Institute of Government, Professor of Political Science, and, by Courtesy, in the Annenberg School for Communications. He is also a Distinguished Fellow in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He was previously associate professor (2013-2018), graduate group chairperson (2013-2018), and assistant professor of Political Science at Penn (2007-2013), and a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for the Study of American Politics at Yale University (2006-2007). He obtained his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2006, and his BA (with highest honors) from The Pennsylvania State University in 2001.
His research focuses on understanding how institutions and elites influence the political behavior of ordinary citizens. This broad question is taken up in studies of mass polarization, voter cue taking, the impact of partisan media on ordinary voters, and a variety of other substantive questions.
His most recent book, How Partisan Media Polarize America, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2013. His previous book, The Partisan Sort, was published by the University of Chicago Press in 2009. His other work has appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Analysis, and other outlets in political science.
His teaching includes courses on public opinion and political behavior, political polarization, voting and elections, Congress, and political methodology.