Area of Expertise: State of American politics, voting behavior, elections, campaign finance, campaign conduct, political advertising, the presidential nominating process, redistricting, the electoral college, youth participation, 1960s civil rights movement and sit-ins, 1960s antiwar movement, National ID, voter fraud, intimidation and suppression 

Additional Information:  Curtis Gans has been a preeminent expert on issues surrounding citizen political participation in the United States for the past three decades.  In 1976 he founded the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate and he recently brought the committee to American University, transforming it into the Center for the Study of the American Electorate (CSAE), a part of  AU's Center for Democracy and Election Management (CDEM). The center studies trends toward citizen disengagement from politics. Since its establishment, CSAE has produced six biennial studies regarding voter registration and turnout. Through CSAE, Gans has conducted surveys, seminars, conferences, and studies regarding aspects of political disengagement.  He has testified numerous times before congressional committees, major party organizations, and state legislative committees. He has published more than 200 op-ed artricles, magazine articles, and several book reviews for publications including the Atlantic, Washington Monthly, New York Times, and Washington Post.

The Center for the Study of the American Electorate is currently working on six programs:
Statistical book on voter turnout from 1788 to the present to be published in fall 2010 by CQ Press
Book about the problems facing American democracy
Study on electoral college reform
Program aimed at both improving civic knowledge and salvaging the print-on-paper newspaper
High-level bipartisan commission to explore the feasibility and application of a government-provided and paid-for mandatory biometric national ID card and system
Program to help produce a sound and durable presidential nominating process

Before establishing the committee, Gans was best known for helping to organize the “Dump Johnson” movement of 1967 and his involvement as staff director of the 1968 presidential campaign of Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy. Gans also played a major role in the development of the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s.  From 1978 to 1982, he was a self-syndicated columnist.  His latest book is Voter Turnout in the United States 1788–2009 (CQ Press, 2010).
 

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