What I do
Professor of Political ScienceSpecialization(s)
political parties, American Politics, polarization, nominations, state legislatures, social networks, campaigns and elections
Professional Biography
Seth Masket is a professor of political science at the University of Denver. He is the author of The Elephants in the Room: How Trump Voters Seized the Party from Republican Leaders (Cambridge, 2026), Learning from Loss: The Democrats 2016-2020 (Cambridge, 2020), The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How they Weaken Democracy (Oxford, 2016), and No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures (Michigan, 2009), as well as a co-author of a recent textbook on political parties. He studies political parties, campaigns and elections, and state legislatures. He contributes occasionally at Politico, the Denver Post, and other publications, and maintains a popular Substack newsletter, “The Smotus Report.”
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Political Science, UCLA, 2004
- MA, Political Management, George Washington University, 1996
- BA, Political Science, UC Berkeley, 1991
Professional Affiliations
- American Political Science Association
Research
Political parties, campaigns and elections, state legislatures.
Areas of Research
political parties
American politics
polarization
nominations
state legislatures
social networks
campaigns and elections
Key Projects
- Collaborative Research: Healing the Rifts - A Study of Intraparty Factionalism at Presidental Nominating Conventions
Featured Publications
Awards
- Distinguished Scholar Award, University of Denver
- Emerging Scholar Award, APSA Section on Political Organizations and Parties
