Gabriel Lenz

Gabriel Lenz is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Lenz’s research primarily focuses on voters’ ability to control their elected officials. His aim is to further our understanding of when voters succeed in holding politicians accountable, when they fail, and how to help them avoid failures. He has a recently published his first book, Follow the Leader? How Voters Respond to Politicians’ Policies and Performance (University of Chicago Press, 2012), and his articles appear or are forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Political Analysis,  Political Behavior, and Political Psychology. His work draws on insights from social psychology and economics, and his research and teaching interests are in the areas of elections, public opinion, political psychology, and political economy. Although specializing in American democracy, he also conducts research on Canada, UK, Mexico, Netherlands, and Brazil. He has ongoing projects about improving voters’ assessments of the performance of politicians, reducing the role of candidate appearance in elections, and measuring political corruption.