David Glick

David Glick is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Boston University, holding positions since 2011. He is the faculty director of MetroBridge, a co-PI of the Menino Survey of Mayors, and a Fellow at multiple institutions including the Office of Evaluation Sciences (GSA) and Brown University’s Policy Lab. He earned his Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University and previously served as a visiting fellow at Dartmouth College’s Rockefeller Center. His research focuses on American political institutions, courts, local governance, housing policy, and policy diffusion, with a notable book Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis. His work has been published in top journals like Nature, PNAS, and American Journal of Political Science.

Education:

• Ph.D., Politics, Princeton University (2010)
• B.A., Astrophysics and Political Science, Williams College (2002)

Research Interests: Glick’s work examines political institutions (especially courts), local policy dynamics, housing crises, and policy diffusion. Recent studies include Zoom’s impact on participatory democracy, vaccination behavior during the pandemic, and mayors’ responses to climate change. His collaborations with Katherine Einstein and Maxwell Palmer on housing policy have gained significant media attention.

Key Contributions:

• Co-authored Neighborhood Defenders (2019), analyzing housing policy coalitions
• Launched the Menino Survey of Mayors, tracking municipal priorities since 2015
• Recipient of prestigious awards including the Heinz Eulau Award and APSA Law and Courts prizes

Teaching: Courses include Constitutional Law, Judicial Politics, and a unique class analyzing HBO’s The Wire through a political lens. He pioneered MetroBridge, linking BU courses with real-world municipal projects.

Labs/Teams: Active in MetroBridge and the Policy Lab @ Brown, focusing on applied policy research and civic engagement initiatives.