Marc J. Hetherington

Marc Hetherington is Raymond H. Dawson Bicentennial Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  He received his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1990, and, after a stint working in the Pennsylvania State Senate, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997.  After a one year position at the University of Virginia, he taught at Bowdoin College until 2004, later moving to Vanderbilt University and, ultimately, to University of North Carolina in 2018.

Marc studies the American electorate, with a particular focus on trust in government and the polarization of public opinion.  He has authored or co-authored of a number of books over the years, including Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism (Princeton University Press, 2005), Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2009) (with Jonathan Weiler), Why Washington Won’t Work: Polarization, Political Trust, and the Governing Crisis (University of Chicago Press, 2015) (with Thomas J. Rudolph), and Prius or Pickup: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America’s Great Divide (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2018) (with Jonathan Weiler). He has also published a range of articles in scholarly journals and won several awards for his teaching.

If there is one thing that motivates his scholarly work, it is tackling subjects that are broadly relevant — not just of interest to political scientists — and presenting the research as accessibly as possible.  In that vein, Marc’s most recent work during the Covid-19 pandemic has focused on encouraging Americans to wear masks and to get vaccinated.  Connecting political science with real world political challenges will be a central focus of his service as association president.