Amy E. Lerman

Amy E. Lerman is the Michelle Schwartz Professor of Public Policy and Political Science and Executive Director of the Possibility Lab at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a political scientist specializing in race, public opinion, political behavior, and the intersections between criminal justice systems and American democracy.

• Focus areas include civil rights, government healthcare policy, political polarization, and prison reform
• Her research has appeared in American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, and Perspectives on Politics
• Key projects involve the California Correctional Officer Survey and Catalyst Convenings for climate policy deliberation

Lerman’s scholarly work examines how negative perceptions of government create self-fulfilling prophecies in public service adoption, investigates correctional officer wellness and institutional effects on staff, and analyzes how mass criminal justice contact creates second-class citizenship. Her research employs mixed methods including survey experiments, longitudinal data analysis, and ethnographic interviews.

Recent publications focus on partisan confirmation bias, deliberative democracy, and civic engagement frameworks, with particular attention to how decentralized policy framing and community-centered engagements can mitigate polarization.

• 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship for polarization research
• American Political Science Association awards for both books

As Possibility Lab director, she partners with government agencies like the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Strategic Growth Council, and Prison University Project. Her applied work spans policy innovation in housing equity, farmworker health, and climate governance, with fieldwork experience in Latin America and Southeast Asia.