John Lapinski

John Lapinski

John Lapinski, Ph.D., (born—11/26/1967) is the Robert A. Fox Professor of Political Science, Faculty Director of the Robert A. Fox Leadership Program and the Director of the Penn Program on Opinion Research and Election Studies (PORES) at University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as the Faculty Director for the Executive Masters of Public Administration program within the Fels Institute of Government.

Lapinski also serves as the Director of the Elections Unit at NBC News and the Director of NBC’s Data Analytics Lab. In this capacity, he is responsible for projecting races for the network and producing election-related stories through exit polls for NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, and all of NBC’s digital properties.

Early Life and Education

Lapinski was born in Seattle, Washington, and spent his early life there. He graduated from Shoreline High School and did his undergraduate work at the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University, where he earned his B.A. in political science in 1991. In the fall of 1989, Lapinski spent a semester abroad in France as well as West and East Germany. As such, he was in Berlin when the Berlin Wall came down.

In 1994, he earned an M.A. in Public Policy Studies from University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy. Lapinski then completed his dissertation, “Representation and Reform: A Congress Centered Approach to American Political Development,” and was awarded his M.Phil and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University in October of 2000.

Academic Career

Yale University

Lapinski taught at Yale University from 1999 to 2006. In the 1999-2000 academic year, he joined the university as Lecture Convertible in the department of Political Science. Following, in 2000, he was appointed Assistant Professor of Political Science. That year he also received a Joint Appointment to the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and was named a Resident Fellow to the institution, as well as Resident Fellow for the Institution for Social and Policy Studies. He remained in these positions until he left the university in 2006. Lapinski was named Associate Professor (untenured) at Yale University in the spring of 2006. Additionally, he was named Resident Fellow of the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City from 2004 to 2005.

While at Yale, he was a member of the University Executive Committee; Initiative Hiring Committee (twice); Graduate Admissions; Library Committee; and Computer Distribution Committee.

University of Pennsylvania

In July of 2006, Lapinski was named Associate Professor (untenured) at the University of Pennsylvania and became American Politics Workshop Coordinator, a position he held for three years. He received tenure in July of 2008 and was soon appointed Non-Resident Senior Fellow of the Fox Leadership Program. Lapinski was named the Undergraduate Chair in July of 2009 and served in that capacity until 2015. He soon became Faculty Director of the Penn In Washington Program, leaving that position in Fall of 2015.

He was most recently (2018) named Co-Faculty Director of the Fox Leadership Program and was awarded an endowed professorship – the Robert A. Fox Leadership Professor of Political Science. Of that appointment, John DiIulio, the Frederic Fox Leadership Professor of Politics, Religion and Civil Society and current director of the Fox Leadership Program, noted: “John Lapinski has brilliantly mentored numerous Fox-supported undergraduate fellows while helping greatly to expand fellowships from 50 in 2012 to more than 150 in each of the last two years. His exciting vision for both PORES and Fox is all about equipping and empowering students and recent alumni for 21st century leadership challenges.”

Lapinski became faculty Director of the Fox Leadership Program on July 1, 2018. He also has served as Faculty Director for the Program on Opinion Research and Elections Studies since 2013 and is Annenberg Public Policy Fellow and Co-Faculty Director, Fels MPA Program.

He teaches at both the undergraduate and graduate level, including courses in the data sciences, public opinion and elections, Congress and American Political Development. He also serves as mentor and advisor to many undergraduate and graduate students.

Penn Committees and activities: At University of Pennsylvania, Lapinski has served on numerous committees, including the Undergraduate Committee; American Politics Search Committee—on which he served a one-year appointment as chair; American Search Committee Chair 2009/10; Disciplinary Hearing Committee; Academic Steering Committee, Fels Institute; and LPS Executive Committee.

Nora Lewis, Vice Dean of the College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS) commented that “Professor Lapinski has served in a leadership role on the LPS faculty oversight committee for many years, providing invaluable support to advance the LPS mission of promoting access and innovation in educational programming. We are grateful for his vision and commitment.”

A member of the CQ Legislative Studies Award Committee in 2009, he also has served on the Editorial Board of Legislative Studies Quarterly. He was a reviewer for the American Political Science Review; American Journal of Political Science; Journal of Politics; Legislative Studies Quarterly; Perspectives on Politics; Political Analysis; Studies in American Political Development; Public Opinion Quarterly and Political Science Quarterly; as well as Princeton University Press; National Science Foundation and the Russell Sage Foundation.

Lapinski was the sponsor and co-director of the Macro-Politics Conference (Boulder, Colorado, June 2001) and the History of Congress Conference (New Haven, Connecticut, May 2006).

Scholarly Career

His primary area of research is concerned with understanding national elections as well as lawmaking in Congress through empirical analysis.

Media Career

Lapinksi joined NBC News as an election analyst in 2000 and was named senior election analyst four years later. In 2013, Lapinski was named director of elections at NBC News, replacing Sheldon Gawiser. In 2015, the election team's decision desk group was given its first permanent space at 30 Rockefeller, replacing the News Sales Archives that had occupied the space previously. (Ariens, Chris (October 15, 2015). "NBC News Unveils Its First Permanent Decision Desk". AdWeek.)

He has served as director of NBC Data Analytics Lab since 2016.

Selected Works

He is the author of “The Substance of Representation” (Princeton University Press, 2013) and co-author (with David A. Bateman and Ira Katznelson) of “Southern Nation” (Princeton University Press, 2018), awarded the V.O. Key prize for best book on Southern politics by the Southern Political Science Association in January of 2020. Additionally, he co-edited (with E. Scott Alder) “The Macropolitics of Congress” (Princeton University Press, 2006).

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

• “A House Divided? Roll Calls, Polarization, and Policy Differences, 1977-2011,” co-authored with David Bateman and Josh Clinton. 2017. American Journal of Political Science 60(5): 866-898.
• “What Do Citizens Want from Their Members of Congress,” co-authored with Matthew Levendusky, Ken Winneg and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. 2016. Political Research Quarterly 69(3): 535-545.
• “Ideal Points and American Political Development: Beyond DW NOMINATE,” co-authored with David Bateman. October 2016. Studies in American Political Development, 1-25.
• “Southern Politics Revisited: On V.O. Key’s “South in the House,” co-authored with David Bateman and Ira Katznelson. October 2015. Studies in American Political Development, 154-184.
• “Laws and Roll Calls in the U.S. Congress, 1891-1994,” co-authored with Joshua Clinton. December 2008. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 33(4): 511-541.
• “Reviving Policy Substance: Studying Policy Issues, Legislative Significance, and Lawmaking in American Politics, 1877-1994.” April 2008. American Journal of Political Science, 52(2): 235-251.
• “Congress and American Political Development: Missed Chances, Rich Possibilities,” co-authored with Ira Katznelson. June 2006. Perspectives on Politics, 4(2): 243-260.
• “The “Race Card” Revisited: Assessing Racial Priming in Policy Contests,” co-authored with Gregory Huber. April 2006. American Journal of Political Science, 50(2): 421-440.
• “Measuring Legislative Accomplishment, 1877-1946,” co-authored with Josh Clinton. January 2006. American Journal of Political Science 50(1): 232-249.
• “Targeted Advertising and Voter Turnout: An Experimental Study of the 2000 Presidential Election,” co-authored with Joshua Clinton. February 2004. The Journal of Politics, 66(1): 69-96.
• “American Federalism, Race and the Administration of Welfare,” co-authored with Robert Lieberman. April 2001. British Journal of Political Science, 31(2): 303-329.
• "Testing Formal Theories of Political Rhetoric,” co-authored with Charles Cameron and Charles Riemann. February 2000. Journal of Politics, 62(1): 187-205.
• “Demand Side Theory and Congressional Committee Composition: A Constituency Characteristics Approach,” co-authored with E. Scott Adler. July 1997. American Journal of Political Science, 41(3): 895-918.
• “Welfare State Regimes and Subjective Well-Being: A Cross-National Study,” co-authored with Charles Riemann, Robert Y. Shapiro, Matt Stevens and Lawrence Jacobs. 1998 International Journal of Public Opinion Research (Oxford-University Press), 10(1): 2-24.
• “Testing the Implicit-Explicit Model of Racialized Political Communication,” co-authored with Gregory Huber. March 2008.Perspectives on Politics, 6(1): 125-134.
• “The Polls: Immigrants and Immigration,” co-authored with Pia Peltola, Greg Shaw and Alan Yang. Summer 1997. Public Opinion Quarterly, 61(2): 356-383.

Book Chapters

• “Where Measures Meet History: Party Polarization During the New and Fair Deal," co-authored with Josh Clinton and Ira Katznelson in "Governing in a Polarized Age." Alan Gerber and Eric Schickler eds. Forthcoming Cambridge University Press.
• “Measuring Significant Legislation, 1877 -1948,” co-authored with Joshua Clinton in "Process, Party and Policymaking: Further New Perspectives on the History of Congress." David Brady and Matthew McCubbins eds. 2007. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. Pp. 361-378.
• “The Substance of Representation: Studying Policy Content and Legislative Behavior.” Co-authored with Ira Katznelson in "The Macropolitics of Congress." E. Scott Adler and John Lapinski eds. February 2006. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp. 96-126.
• “Defining the Macropolitics of Congress.” Co-authored with E. Scott Adler in "The Macropolitics of Congress." E. Scott Adler and John Lapinski eds. February 2006. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Pp.1-18.
• “Veto Threats,” co-authored with Charles Cameron and Charles Riemann in "Veto Bargaining: Presidents and the Politics of Negative Power," Charles Cameron. 2000. Pp. 178-202.

Awards and Honors

• Penn Fellow, 2011-2012.
• Research Grant, Christopher H. Browne Center for International Politics, $4,000.
• ISPS Grant, History of Congress Conference, $40,000.
• Russell Sage Foundation Fellow, 2004-5, New York City.
• National Science Foundation Grant Award# 0318280 Total $123,562.
• Junior Faculty Award (competitive), Yale University, 2003.
• Arthur Greer Memorial Teaching Prize, $4000, Yale University, Summer 2001.
• Dirksen Center for Congressional Research (with E. Scott Adler), $2000, Spring 2001.
• Provost’s Fund, Yale University, Macro-Politics Conference Grant, $7,500, Spring 2001.
• Young Leader Award, American Swiss Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland, 2001.
• Principal Investigator, Yale New Media and Survey Research Initiative, Institution for Social and Policy Studies, $75,000, Fall 2001.
• Principal Investigator, Yale Advertising Study, ISPS Yale, $75,000, Fall 2000.
• Arthur Greer Memorial Teaching Prize, $4000, Yale University, Summer 2001.
• Dirksen Center Congressional Research Grant, $2,500, 1998-1999.
• Public Policy Consortium, Dissertation Research Grant, $8,300, 1997-1998.
• President’s Fellowship, Columbia University, 1994-1998.
• Tuition Fellowship, University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy, 1992-1994.

External Links

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