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2014, for “the best paper on the scientific study of Congress and the Presidency” at 2013 MPSA

Patrick J. Fett Award

2009, Dept. of Politics, Princeton University

Stanley E. Kelley Teaching Award

2011, For “More A Molehill than a Mountain: the Effects of the Blanket Primary on Elected Officials’ Behavior From California.” With Will Bullock.

Journal of Politics Best Paper Award

Political Science with High Honors, Economics with Distinction
Magna Cum Laude

Quarterly Journal of Political Science : Editor-In-Chief

Journal of Public Policy : Editorial Board Member

Who Participated in the ACA? Gains in Insurance Coverage by Political Partisanship

Knockout Blows or the Status Quo? Momentum in the 2016 Primaries

Lawmaking in American Legislatures: an empirical investigation

An Evaluation of the 2016 Election Polls in the United States

Changing Owners, Changing Content: Does Who Owns the News Matter for the News?

Clinton (Ph.D. Political Science, M.S. Statistics, and M.A. Economics from Stanford University) uses statistical methods to better understand political processes and outcomes. He is interested in: the politics in the U.S. Congress, public opinion, campaigns and elections, and the uses and abuses of statistical methods for understanding political phenomena. His peer-reviewed publications have appeared in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, Political Analysis, Legislative Studies Quarterly, and the Annual Review of Political Science. He is an Editor-In-Chief for the Quarterly Journal of Political Science and he is currently serving on the Editorial Board of Journal of Public Policy. He is currently the Director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions and a Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Poll.

Voters

Tennessee Politics

Polling

American Politics

Political Polls

Political Climate in Tennessee

Political Methodology

Public Opinion

Voter Behavior and Attitudes

Vanderbilt University Profile

Vanderbilt University News Profile

Personal Website

Google Scholar Profile

Once again, polls underestimated Trump. Experts only have a hunch why

The Polls Were Right! But Also They Weren’t.

Pollsters Were Blindsided by Breadth of Trump Win

A lot of state poll results show ties. So are they tied because of voters — or pollsters?

American pollsters aren’t sure they have fixed the flaws of 2020

Trump-Biden Was Worst Presidential Polling Miss in 40 Years, Panel Says

As COVID surges, Americans remain divided on the threat. What will it take to bring them together?

Coronavirus could push Americans to lobby for a social safety net like Europe’s, experts say

Delay the November election? What voters think about coronavirus and the campaign.

Five States Have Already Canceled GOP Primaries. Here’s What You Should Know

how-americans-want-colleges-to-teach-thinking-and-why-the-experts-from-vanderbilt-say-this-moment-matters

Abby and Jon Winkelried Professor of Political Science

Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science

  A new national Unity Poll from Vanderbilt University shows overwhelming agreement among Americans on one core belief: colleges should teach students how to think, not what to think.
At a time when higher education is under intense political and cultural scrutiny, this finding reveals an unexpected area of unity. Amid debates over free speech, curriculum design, and the purpose of a degree, Americans are signaling a shared expectation for colleges to cultivate critical thinking and reasoning — not ideological conformity.

 For journalists, observers or anyone keeping a close eye on post-secondary education,  this is a rare lens into what the public actually wants from higher education, and a timely point of entry into stories about academic freedom, the value of a college degree, political polarization, and workforce readiness.

“Many observers think current debates about the nature of higher education are relatively new but they are not,” said John Geer, co-director of the Vanderbilt Unity Poll and professor of political science. “The country, for example, was debating the purpose, value and direction of higher education in the 1940s when the federal government made major investments in research and teaching during and after World War II.”   “People want colleges and professors to teach students how to think, not what to think,” added Vanderbilt Poll Co-Director Josh Clinton, who holds the Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair at Vanderbilt and is a professor of political science. “The public most highly values those parts of higher education that help students think critically, process information and contribute meaningfully to society. The closer you get to subjects and content that has associations with contemporary political divisions, the more you see public support fracture.”  John Geer and Josh Clinton, Co-Directors of the Vanderbilt Unity Poll and Professors of Political Science, are among the nation’s leading experts on public opinion, political behavior and democratic attitudes. With decades of research experience and multiple national polls under their leadership, Geer and Clinton bring essential context to these findings. Their perspective helps media interpret not only the data itself, but the broader social forces shaping how Americans view higher education, institutional trust and the role of colleges in preparing the next generation. What the Data Reveals:  1. A Return to Fundamentals: The Public Wants Critical Thinking Above All Ninety percent of Americans say “the ability to think more logically” is extremely or very important for their children to gain from college. Factual knowledge matters too, but the public places higher value on reasoning, analysis and cognitive skill-building. Geer can help illuminate why this shift is resonating so strongly now — and what it suggests about the changing expectations placed on colleges and universities.  2. A Rare Point of Consensus in a Polarized Era The emphasis on teaching students how to think cuts across political, geographic and demographic lines. Geer notes that agreement of this magnitude is increasingly uncommon in today’s contentious climate. This story angle gives journalists a data-driven counterpoint to the typical “campus culture wars” narrative — showing where unity still exists and why.  3. Is College Worth It? Depends How You Ask When asked about long-term value, a majority of Americans say a college degree is worth the time because it opens better job prospects. But when the question focuses on financial cost, support drops significantly. Geer and Clinton can walk reporters through why perceptions differ depending on how “value” is framed — and how these attitudes influence choices about pursuing postsecondary education.  4. Americans Oppose Government Control of College Teaching Most respondents say the federal government should not direct how professors teach. This adds nuance to ongoing debates about curriculum oversight, classroom autonomy and political influence in higher education. Geer and Clinton’s expertise help explain how this preference aligns with longstanding public attitudes about institutional independence.  5. Curriculum Flashpoints Reveal Sharp Divides While many Americans agree on the need for core historical and civic content, support fragments around politically charged topics. Issues such as gender identity, sexual orientation, and certain cultural topics show much lower consensus.  Read the full article and report here:  

How Americans Want Colleges to Teach Thinking — And Why the Experts from Vanderbilt Say This Moment Matters

Don’t rely on any one poll if you’re looking for insight into the presidential election, says Vanderbilt University polling expert Josh Clinton.

“The media every single day is touting a new poll and new results on who’s up and who’s down, and it can be very hard to understand exactly what polls to pay attention to, especially when the media doesn’t do a great job of telling you how credible or how trustworthy these polls are,” said Clinton, holder of the Abby and Jon Winkelried Chair at Vanderbilt and co-director of the university’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions.

“Polling is a business,” said Clinton, “So there’s lots of people trying to enter and trying to poll a presidential race.”

The best way to get a sense of how the race is going is to study several different polls taken around the same time, he said. If a consensus develops among separate polls, then the results are more likely accurate.
 
“How they try to identify who the likely voters are and all these other decisions that pollsters are making, it’s very much more an art instead of a science,” Clinton said. “People can be wrong, and they are, and produce different results.”

[Media Note: Vanderbilt has a 24/7 HD TV and radio studio. Use of the studio with Vanderbilt experts is free, other than reserving fiber time.]

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Sorting through the polls

Despite opportunities for broad consensus, Tennessee's long history of pragmatic politics could be affected by rising polarization along party lines, according to the most recent statewide Vanderbilt University Poll.

Poll directors John Geer, Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science, and Josh Clinton, Abby and Jon Winkelried Professor of Political Science, say these findings indicate that the state's leaders have a choice to make between further strengthening their bases or pursuing a bipartisan agenda.

Follow Vanderbilt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/vanderbiltu, on Instagram: http://instagram.com/vanderbiltu and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanderbilt. 

See all Vanderbilt social media at http://social.vanderbilt.edu.

Tennessee stands at a political crossroads: Vanderbilt Poll

Media Inquiry