Steven Sylvester, Ph.D.
Faculty Director of Graduate Studies Utah Valley University
Biography
Areas of Expertise
Education
University of Kansas, Lawrence
Ph.D.
Political Science
2016
California State University Chico
M.A.
Political Science
2012
California State University Chico
B.A.
Political Science
2008
Media Appearances
Bernie Sanders makes endorsement in Utah’s new first district race
KSL News online
2025-12-01
Steven Sylvester, political science professor at Utah Valley University, called the Sanders endorsement “interesting.” “I am not sure it will make a difference in the result,” Sylvester told KSL, “but it might make it more competitive.”
Courses
Public Administration Policy and Evaluation
PADM 6020
Introduction to Public Policy
POLS 3310
American National Government
POLS 1100
Articles
Who's to Blame? How Recipient Deservingness Influences Attitudes About Access to the Organ Transplants
Social Science Quarterly2025-03-31
The United States continues to experience a severe shortage of organs available for transplant. Do Americans differentiate between who should and should not get an organ transplant based on the extent to which their situation might be attributed to internal or external factors? And how do race and ethnicity affect these attitudes?
I paid into it with every paycheck I earned: How benefit type and beneficiary contributions shape attitudes about increasing or decreasing administrative burdens for social protections
Policy Studies Journal2024-09-23
Administrative burdens are an important policy tool that has received growing scholarly attention. Burdens are consequential and serve as a contributor to incomplete program take-up. However, our knowledge is limited on how program characteristics affect public attitudes toward burden-increasing or decreasing policies.
More Than Words? How Highlighting Target Populations Affects Public Opinion about the Medicaid Program
Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law2023-10-01
The Medicaid program provides health insurance coverage to a diverse set of demographics. We know little about how the policy community describes these populations (e.g., on Medicaid-related websites or in public opinion polls and policy writings) or whether and how these descriptions may affect perceptions of the program, its beneficiaries, and potential policy changes.
Identifying the prevalence, correlates, and policy consequences of anti-vaccine social identity
Politics, Groups and Identities2023-01-01
Scholarly and journalistic profiles of anti-vaxxers – i.e., individuals who are active in efforts to oppose widespread vaccination – suggest that some Americans may identify with the “anti-vaccine” label in order to fulfill social goals (e.g., a sense of belonging in a broader community).
Vaccinating across the aisle: using co-partisan source cues to encourage COVID-19 vaccine uptake in the ideological right
Journal of Behavioral Medicine2022-05-11
Overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States will require most Americans to vaccinate against the disease. However, considerable research suggests that a significant proportion of Americans intend to forego vaccination, putting pandemic recovery at risk.
Just say no? Public attitudes about supportive and punitive policies to combat the opioid epidemic
Journal of Public Policy2022-02-09
Using an original demographically representative survey, we estimate the determinants of public support for a set of supportive and punitive policies to combat the opioid epidemic among a sample of 2,131 Americans.
Past experiences with surprise medical bills drive issue knowledge, concern and attitudes toward federal policy intervention
Health Economics, Policy and Law2021-10-21
Scholars and journalists have devoted considerable attention to understanding the circumstances in which Americans receive surprise medical bills. Previous research on this issue has focused on the scope of the problem, including the conditions that are most likely to lead to surprise bills.
