Eric Plutzer

Eric Plutzer is a Liberal Arts Professor of Political Science at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), affiliated with the College of the Liberal Arts. His academic roles include serving as Director of Polling for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Public Opinion Quarterly. Plutzer holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Washington University in St. Louis and has held academic positions at institutions like Iowa State University, Universiti Malaya, and the Australian National University. His research focuses on voter turnout, public opinion dynamics, and the intersection of politics with education, family, and religion.

Plutzer’s work examines how political attitudes shape education policy, particularly in contentious areas like evolution and climate change education. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, and others. Key contributions include analyzing the teaching of evolution in U.S. schools and investigating the role of emotions in voter behavior. He also explores local governance, religion-state interactions, and generational differences in political engagement.

Plutzer’s publications include seminal works such as Evolution, Creationism, and the Battle to Control America’s Classrooms (2010) and Ten Thousand Democracies: Politics and Public Opinion in America’s School Districts (2005). His recent studies address climate change education in schools and the impact of religion on pandemic responses. Plutzer emphasizes methodological rigor, contributing to debates on survey design and data quality in political science.