William Mishler

William Mishler is Professor of Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Political Science at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. Mishler received his BA at Stetson University and his PhD from Duke University. Before moving to Arizona in 1997, he held tenured positions at Duke University, SUNY Buffalo, and as the James F. and Maude B. Byrnes Professor of Government at the University of South Carolina. He has twice served as Director of the Political Science Program at the U.S. National Science Foundation and for three years as Senior Research Scientist and Democracy Fellow in the Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance at the United States Agency for International Development. A specialist in democratic theory, he teaches and writes on public opinion, political representation, and the dynamics of citizen support for democratic parties, leaders and regimes. Recently he has been writing and consulting on problems of Human Trafficking. Mishler is the author or co-author of eight books, the most recent of which is Popular Support for an Undemocratic Regime: the Changing Views of Russians (Cambridge University Press, 2011). He also is the author of numerous articles and chapters in most of the leading Political Science journals including the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, The Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, and Legislative Studies Quarterly. In addition to his scholarly work, Mishler has consulted extensively on Conflict Management, Democratization, and Public Opinion for the United States Agency for International Development and a variety of non-governmental organizations including the Academy for Educational Development, ARD Inc., FHI 360, IIE, Management Systems International, the National Democratic Institute, NORC and Social Impact. His consulting work has taken him to Armenia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Georgia, Guatemala, Serbia, Honduras, Kosovo, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Nepal, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Tunisia, Senegal, and Sri Lanka.