Matthew Levendusky, Ph.D.

Matthew Levendusky studies public opinion and political communication, with a particular focus on the causes and consequences of political polarization, as well as how we might bridge the partisan divide in the U.S.

Matthew Levendusky is Professor of Political Science and Faculty Director of the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He also holds a secondary appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication. He was previously associate professor (2013-2018), graduate group chairperson (2013-2018), and assistant professor (2007-2013) of Political Science at Penn, 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 B.A. (with highest honors) from The Pennsylvania State University in 2001. Since 2014, he has served on the NBC News decision desk.

He is the author of The Partisan Sort (University of Chicago Press, 2009) and How Partisan Media Polarize America (University of Chicago Press, 2013). Beginning with the 15th edition, he is a co-author of American Government: Institutions and Policies (Cengage Learning; with James Q. Wilson, John J. DiIulio, Jr., and Meena Bose), and beginning with the 13th edition, he is a co-author of American Government: Institutions and Policies, Brief Edition (Cengage Learning; with James Q. Wilson, John J. DiIulio, Jr., and Meena Bose). His work has also appeared in the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, and a variety of other outlets in political science and political communication. His research focuses on understanding how institutions and elites influence the political behavior of ordinary citizens, including studies of mass polarization, the effects of partisan media, and various other topics.

His work has been honored with a number of awards, including the 2011 Jewell-Lowenberg Award (for the best article published in Legislative Studies Quarterly), the 2013 best paper award from the Journal of Politics, the 2014 Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center (for How Partisan Media Polarize America), and the 2016 Erik Erikson Early Career Award from the International Society of Political Psychology.