About CSAP

The Center for the Study of American Politics (CSAP) was created to promote the work of scholars in the field of American politics. Using a broad set of methodological approaches and enjoying the advantages of deep knowledge of American politics, Americanists have made signal contributions to our understanding of political institutions and behavior. The Yale Center for the Study of American Politics is dedicated to furthering this intellectual tradition.

In order to achieve these goals, the Center for the Study of American Politics sponsors and supports a number of activities:

  • Inviting several distinguished scholars and postdoctoral students to spend a year at the Center while pursuing their own research and participating in the activities of the Center.
  • Sponsoring conferences and special lecture events on subject areas of interest to affiliated faculty in American politics.
  • Sponsoring lunchtime workshop series on a range of topics including American politics and public policy, quantitative research methodology, behavioral science in general, and political behavior in particular.  Workshop speakers include distinguished faculty from other institutions, research fellows of the Center, and Ph.D. candidates at Yale.
  • Sponsoring short courses (typically 2-3 days) on advanced subjects of special interest to affiliated faculty.
  • Providing grants to help fund Yale faculty and student research projects on topics related to American politics.

In this way, the Center for the Study of American Politics strives to make important contributions to research and teaching in the field of American politics while enhancing the academic environment for students and faculty at Yale.

CSAP is a program of the Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies.