Professional Bio

Professor of Political Science (Ph.D., Washington University, 1987), and Academic Director, PSU Survey Research Center specializes in public opinion, voting, and participation; gender and politics; education policy.  His recent work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Spencer Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.  His current project, with Michael Berkman, examines the the evolution-creationism controversy in the United States.  This extends their prior work on how educational policy is responsive to public opinion (Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in America‘s School Districts).  Plutzer’s research has been published in journals such as the American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Public Opinion Quarterly and American Politics Research. He teaches classes on public opinion, political behavior, and the statistical analysis of survey data.