Does Democracy Work?
Back to Class
About the Program
Americans wonder about the vitality of democracy in the United States, but is there cause for alarm? We can learn a lot by asking a few key questions: Do citizens get what they want from government? Can people develop well-informed policy opinions? How should we investigate these topics and what are the key metrics? After thirty years of studying and searching for answers, a Government major returns to Dartmouth with a new perspective, some data-driven empirical results, and a research agenda.
About the Speaker
Dr. Jason Barabas [pronounced Berra-AH-bas] '93 is the Director of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences at Dartmouth College and a Professor in the Government Department. At Dartmouth, Barabas teaches and conducts research on American politics in the areas of political knowledge, deliberation, public policy, and democratic performance. His findings have been published in peer-reviewed academic journals including the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics.
Barabas earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University and his undergraduate degree in Government from Dartmouth College. After graduating from college, Barabas was appointed as an economic policy advisor for the Governor of Illinois, which fostered an appreciation for retail politics as well as pragmatic solutions to policy problems. In the years since, he has held postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Princeton as well as academic faculty positions in New York, Florida, and Illinois. When he is not teaching or writing, Barabas enjoys a variety of outdoor and cultural activities throughout New Hampshire and beyond.