Jan Leighley Professor Department of Government
- Degrees
- PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
- Bio
- Jan E. Leighley's research and teaching interests focus on American political behavior, voter turnout, election laws, and racial/ethnic political behavior. She has published in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, among others. She is a co-author with Jonathan Nagler, NYU, of Who Votes Now? Demographics, Issues, Inequality and Turnout in the United States (Princeton: 2014). Previous books include Strength in Numbers? The Political Mobilization of Racial and Ethnic Minorities, published by Princeton University Press, and Mass Media and Politics: A Social Science Perspective. She served as editor (with Kim Quaile Hill) of the American Journal of Political Science from 2000-2004, as editor of The Journal of Politics with Bill Mishler from 2009-2014, and as interim editor of the American Journal of Political Science from 2018-2019. She also served as Interim Senior Associate Dean in the School of Public Affairs from 2012-2014. During 2020-2021, she is on leave at the National Science Foundation as program director (Accountable Institutions and Behavior).
- See Also
- SPA Department of Government
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Research Interests
American political behavior, Voter turnout, Election laws, and Election administration
Selected Publications
Who Votes Now? Demographics, Issues, Inequality and Turnout in the U.S. Princeton University Press, 2014. (with Jonathan Nagler).
“Representation in an Era of Political and Economic Inequality: How and When Citizen Engagement Matters.” 2018. Perspectives on Politics, 16:2 (June 2018): 328-344. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592717003073 (with Jennifer Oser)
"Latino Electoral Participation: Variations on Demographics and Ethnicity." 2016. RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 2:3 (June 2016): 148-164. (with Jonathan Nagler)
"Participation Online and Otherwise: What's the Difference for Policy Preferences?" Social Science Quarterly 95:5 (December 2014): 1259-77. (with Jennifer Oser and Kenneth M. Winneg)