Seth J. Hill

Seth J. Hill is a Professor of Political Science at the University of California San Diego (UCSD), affiliated with the Division of Social Sciences. His research focuses on political participation, voting behavior, and representation in American elections. He holds a PhD from UCLA (2010) and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University (2010–2012). His work has been published in top journals such as the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, and Political Analysis.

Education: PhD in American Politics, UCLA (2010). Postdoctoral appointment at Yale University (2010–2012).

Research Interests: Professor Hill explores how voter intensity influences electoral outcomes, the effects of institutional reforms on political engagement, and the dynamics of political learning. His recent projects include studies on minimum wage policies' impact on homelessness, the efficacy of congressional oversight, and strategies to build trust in elections amid polarization.

Key Contributions: His book Frustrated Majorities: How Issue Intensity Enables Smaller Groups Of Voters To Get What They Want (Cambridge University Press, 2022) challenges conventional understandings of majority rule in democratic systems. He has also received grant funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Grants & Awards: Awarded the Best Paper Prize by APSA State Politics and Policy Quarterly (2023) and the APSA Migration and Citizenship Section (2020). His work on voter perceptions and election integrity has been cited in major policy discussions.

Labs/Teams: Collaborates with the UCSD Political Science Initiative on projects related to electoral behavior, including studies on mail-in voting, pandemic-era election reforms, and partisan polarization.