About

Eric Plutzer is Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Penn State.  He earned his Ph.D. in sociology from Washington University in St. Louis, working with John Zipp, and completed a post-doc at Indiana University working with George Bohrnstedt, David Heise, Peggy Thoits, and Sheldon Stryker.

He taught at Iowa State University prior to coming to Penn State.  He has also been a guest professor at Universiti Malaya (Kuala Lumpur), the Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), and the Australian National University.

His research areas include  voter turnout and civic engagement, public opinion, social and education policy, political polarization, and the politics of family, gender, and reproduction.  His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Templeton Foundation, and the National Center for Science Education.

He is currently the co-editor in chief of Public Opinion Quarterly, and has previously served as associate editor for POQ and Politics & Gender.

CV

Books and Major Reports:

Plutzer, Eric, A. Lee Hannah, Joshua Rosenau, Mark McCaffrey, Minda Berbeco, and Ann H. Reid. 2016. “Mixed Messages: How Climate Change is Taught in America’s Public Schools.”  National Center for Science Education.

Berkman, Michael and Eric Plutzer.  2010.  Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America’s Classrooms.  Cambridge University Press.

Berkman, Michael and Eric Plutzer.  2005.  Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in America’s School Districts.  Georgetown University Press.

Plutzer, Eric.  1994.  Your Research: Data Analysis for American Government and Politics.  St. Paul: West Publishing.

Click here for my Google scholar profile