Zoltan L. Hajnal
School of Global Policy and Strategy/Department of Political Science
University of California, San Diegozhajnal@ucsd.edu
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2021201720112007-2011
2001-2007
1999-2001
1998-1999

Co-Director, Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, UCSD
Professor, School of Global Policy and Strategy, UCSD
Professor, Department of Political Science, UCSD
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, UCSD
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, UCSD
Research Fellow, Public Policy Institute of California
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow, Brandeis University,

EDUCATION
Ph.D.
M.A.
B.S.

University of Chicago Political Science, 1998
University of Chicago Political Science, 1993
Yale University Geophysics/ Political Science (cum laude), 1990

PUBLICATIONS
Books
Race and Inequality in American Politics: An Imperfect Union. 2024. Cambridge University Press.
With Vince Hutchings and Taeku Lee
Dangerously Divided: How Race and Class Shape Winning and Losing in American Politics. 2020.
Cambridge University Press
White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics. 2015 Princeton University Press. With
Marisa Abrajano. (Choice Outstanding Academic Title; Ralph Bunche Award for Best Book on
Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism, APSA; Selected as One of the 12 Best Social Science Publications ofthe Decade by VOX; Selected for The New York Times Book Review’s “The Year in Reading” 2016;
Best New Books in Political Science, New Books Network)
Why Americans Don’t Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure of Political Parties toEngage the Public. 2011. Princeton University Press. With Taeku Lee. (Best Book in Racial andEthnic Politics, APSA)
America’s Uneven Democracy: Turnout, Race, and Representation in City Politics. 2010.
Cambridge University Press. (Best Book in Urban Politics, APSA)
Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership. 2007. Cambridge University Press.

Zoltan L. Hajnal 2Refereed Articles
Zoltan Hajnal, Vladimir Kogan, and Agustin Markarian. Forthcoming. Who Wins When: Election
Timing and Descriptive Representation. American Journal of Political Science
Zoltan Hajnal, Vladimir Kogan, and Agustin Markarian. 2022. Who Votes: City Election Timingand Voter Composition. American Political Science Review 116(1):374-383
John Kuk and Zoltan Hajnal. 2021. Democratic Party Control Reduces Gender Inequality.
Legislative Studies Quarterly 46(1):155-188.
“Immigration and the Origins of White Backlash” 2021. Daedalus. 150 (2):23-39
John Kuk, Zoltan Hajnal, and Nazita Lajevardi. 2020. A Disproportionate Burden: Strict Voter
Identification Laws and Minority Turnout. Politics, Groups, and Identities 10(1)-126-134.
John Griffin, Zoltan Hajnal, Brian Newman, and David Searle, 2019. Political Inequality inAmerica: Who Loses on Spending Policy? When is Policy Less Biased? Politics, Groups, andIdentities 7(2): 367-385
Zoltan Hajnal, John Kuk, and Nazita Lajevardi, 2018. We all Agree: Strict Voter ID Laws
Disproportionately Burden Minorities. Journal of Politics 80 (3): 1052-1059
Hajnal, Zoltan, Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson 2017. “Voter Identification Laws and theSuppression of Minority Votes” The Journal of Politics 79 (2): 363-379 (Lawrence Longley Award
from the Representation and Electoral Systems section of APSA for the best article on
representation and electoral systems).
Abrajano, Marisa, Zoltan Hajnal, and Hans Hassell. 2017. “The Case of Immigration Coverage andWhite Macropartisanship. Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. 2(1):5-34.
Hajnal, Zoltan and Marisa Abrajano. 2016. “Trump’s All Too Familiar Strategy and Its Future forthe GOP” The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics. 14(3):295-309.
Hajnal Zoltan L. and Michael Rivera. 2014. “Immigration, Latinos, and White Partisan Politics: The
New Democratic Defection” American Journal of Political Science 58(4):77-789.
Hajnal, Zoltan L. and Jeremy Horowitz. 2014. “Racial Winners and Losers in American Party
Politics”. Perspectives on Politics 12(1):10-18. (Heinz Eulau Award for the best article publishedin Perspectives)
Hajnal, Zoltan L. and Jessica L. Trounstine 2013. What Underlies Urban Politics? Race, Class,Ideology, Partisanship, and the Urban Vote. Urban Affairs Review 49 (4): 63-99.
Hajnal, Zoltan L. and Jessica L. Trounstine. 2013. Identifying and Understanding Perceived
Inequities in Local Politics. Political Research Quarterly 66 (2).

2Zoltan L. Hajnal 3“Who or What Governs: The Effects of Economics, Politics, Institutions, and Needs on LocalSpending.” 2010. American Politics Research. 2010 38: 1130-1163“Who Loses in American Democracy: A count of Votes Demonstrates the Limited Representationof African Americans.” 2009. American Political Science Review 103(1):37-57. (Runner-up forHeinz Eulau Award for the best article published in the APSR)“Black Exceptionalism: Insights from Direct Democracy on the Race vs Class Debate” ResearchArticle. 2007. Public Opinion Quarterly. 71(4): 560-587.
“Where Turnout Matters: The Consequences of Uneven Turnout in City Politics” 2005 Journal ofPolitics. 67(2): 515-535. With Jessica Trounstine.
“Reviving Local Democracy: Institutional Solutions to Low Voter Turnout” 2003 Urban Affairs
Review. 38(5):645-668. With Paul Lewis.
“Minorities and Direct Legislation: Evidence from California Ballot Proposition Elections,” 2002
The Journal of Politics. 64(1):154-177. With Elisabeth Gerber and Hugh Louch.
“White Residents, Black Incumbents, and a Declining Racial Divide,” 2001 American Political
Science Review. 95(3):603-617.
“The Local Interest Group System: Who Governs and Why?” 1998 Social Science Quarterly
79(1):227-241. With Terry N. Clark.
“The Changing Geographic Structure of Black White Segregation in the United States,” 1995
Social Science Quarterly. 76(3):527-541. With Douglas Massey.
“The Nature of Concentrated Urban Poverty in Canada and the United States,” 1995 Canadian
Journal of Sociology. 20(4):497-528.
Chapters in Edited Volumes/Policy Reports“How Californians See Immigration.” 2021. In Immigrant California. Edited by David Fitzgeraldand John Skrentny. Stanford University Press. (With Kristy Patakis and Taeku Lee)
“Anti-Immigrant Backlash: Is There a Path Forward?” 2021. In The Trump Paradox: Migration,
Trade, and Racial Politics in US-Mexico Integration. Edited by Raul Hinojosa and Ed Telles.
University of California Press. 244-254“Securing Fair Elections: Challenges to Voting in the United States and Georgia” 2019 Scholars
Strategy Network“Injustice in the City: Race and Class Inequalities in Local Politics.” 2016 in APSA Taskforce on
Racial Inequalities in the Americas (with Jessica Trounstine)

3Zoltan L. Hajnal 4Hajnal, Zoltan L. “Representation and Responsiveness in Local Government” 2016. Oxford
Handbook on Racial and Ethnic Politics in America. Edited by Taeku Lee, David Leal, and Mark
Sawyer. Oxford University Press.
“Fifty Years of the Voting Rights Act: The State of Race in Politics” Joint Center for Political andEconomic Studies Report (with Khalilah Brown-Dean, Christina Rivers, and Ismail White) 2015
Hajnal, Zoltan L. “The Local Policy Making Context: Who or What Governs?” 2015. Oxford
Handbook on State and Local Government. Edited by Don Haider-Markel. Oxford University
Press.
“Uneven Democracy: Turnout, Minority Interests and Local Government Spending” With Jessica
Trounstine 2013. In Representation and Beyond Edited by Jack Nagel and Rogers Smith. Universityof Pennsylvania Press“Transforming Votes into Victories” 2007. Chapter in Voting Rights Act Reauthorization of 2006:
Perspectives on Democracy, Participation, and Power. Edited by Ana Henderson. Institute for
Global Studies, The University of California. (with Jessica Trounstine).
“Out of Line: Immigration and Party Identification among Asian Americans and Latinos” 2005
Chapter in Transforming Politics, Transforming America: The Political and Civic Incorporation ofImmigrants in the United States. Edited by Taeku Lee, Kathrick Ramakrishnan, and Ricardo
Ramirez. University of Virginia Press (with Taeku Lee).
“Tyranny of the Majority? Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Direct Democracy” 2005 Chapter inDiversity in Democracy: Minority Representation in the United States. Edited by Gary M. Seguraand Shaun Bowler. University of Virginia Press (with Elisabeth Gerber and Hugh Louch).
“Minority Rights in Direct Democracy” 2003 Chapter in Principles & Practice of American
Politics. Edited by Samuel Kernell and Steven S. Smith. Congressional Quarterly Press (withElisabeth Gerber).
“Information and Uncertainty: The Case of White Voters and Black Candidates” 2003 Chapter inEverything But Death and Taxes: Uncertainty and the Study of American Politics. Edited by Barry
C. Burden. Cambridge University Press.
Other Publications“Few People are Expected to Vote in this Year’s ‘Off-Cycle’ Elections. That can be Fixed”
Washington Post (Monkey Cage). August 30, 2021
Women earn more and are more likely to have jobs when Democrats run the state legislature”
Washington Post (Monkey Cage). Oct 13, 2020.
“Why Does No One Vote in Local Elections? Timing is Everything” New York Times. Oct 22,2018.

4

Zoltan L. Hajnal 5“Do voter identification laws suppress minority voting? Yes. We did the research” Washington Post
(Monkey Cage) Feb 15, 2017. With Nazita Lajevardi and Lindsay Nielson“Why Voting with Your Wallet Means Voting Democratic” CNN OP ED Oct 7, 2016. WithBarbara Walter“The Results on Voter ID Laws are in – and its bad news for ethnic and racial minorities” Los
Angeles Times, Sept 9, 2016
“Strict Voter Identification Laws Advantage Whites – and Skew American Democracy to the Right”
Scholars Strategy Network Key Findings, March 2016 (with Nazita Lajevardi, Lindsay Nielson)“The Demographic Case for Republicans to Take Up Immigration” Wall Street Journal, May 29,
2015“Where does America’s low voter turnout matter the most? In local elections” Washington Post,
March 24, 2015
“Opposition to immigration reform is a winning strategy for Republicans” Washington Post,
February 27, 2015
“To Avert the Next Ferguson, Reschedule Elections to Make Local Politics More Representative”
Scholars Strategy Network Basic Facts, February 2015
“Ferguson: No Peace Without Representation” Los Angeles Times August 2014
“Why the Democratic Party – Not Just the GOP – Has an Immigration Problem” Scholars Strategy
Network Basic Facts, December 2014
“As long as white America remains skeptical of immigrants, moving to the left on immigration islikely to hurt the Democrats.” United States Politics and Policy Blog, London School of Economics
Dec 2014“The Democrats’ Immigration Problem” Op-Ed in the New York Times, Nov 20, 2014
“Under Democratic presidents, minorities make economic gains – and so do whites” United StatesPolitics and Policy Blog, London School of Economics May 2013 (with Jeremy Horowitz)“How Democrats and Republicans Can Draw Uncommitted Minorities into Politics” Scholars
Strategy Network Key Findings, December 2012 (with Taeku Lee)
“Under Democratic Presidents, Minorities Make Economic Gains - And So Do Whites” Scholars
Strategy Network Basic Facts, November 2012 (with Jeremy D. Horowitz)“Why the Poor Favor Democrats” 2012 Op-Ed in the Los Angeles Times December 35

Zoltan L. Hajnal 6“The Untold Future of American Politics” 2012 Op-Ed in the New York Times, June 4“The GOP’s Racial Challenge” 2010 Op-Ed in the Washington Post, November 10
Review of Twenty-First Century Color Lines and Minority Report in Perspectives on Politics. 2010
8:359-361“Obama’s Extra Hurdle?” 2007 Op-Ed in the Washington Post, July 13
Municipal Elections in California: Turnout, Timing, and Competition. 2002. San Francisco: Public
Policy Institute of California. (with Paul Lewis and Hugh Louch)Finding Common Ground: Racial and Ethnic Attitudes in California. 2001. San Francisco: Public
Policy Institute of California. (with Mark Baldassare)
Are There Winners and Losers? Race, Ethnicity, and California’s Initiative Vote. 2001.SanFrancisco: Public Policy Institute of California. With Hugh Louch

HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND GRANTS
Winner: Lawrence Longley Award from the Representation and Electoral Systems section of APSA
for the best article on representation and electoral systems (Voter Identification Laws)
Winner: Best New Books in Political Science, New Books Network (White Backlash)Winner: Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015 (White Backlash)Winner: Ralph J. Bunche Award for Best Book on Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism in 2015 (WhiteBacklash)
Research Grant. Russell Sage Foundation ($23,000)
Co-Investigator. California Immigration Research Initiative 2015 ($583,000)
Winner, Heinz Eulau Award for the best article published in Perspectives on Politics, 2014 (RacialWinners and Losers)
Research Grant, Academic Senate 2018, 2014, 2010, 2008, 2005, 2001, 2000, 2001
Best Book on Racial and Ethnic Politics, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science
Association (Why American’s Don’t Join the Party), 2011
Best Book in Urban Politics Award, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association(America’s Uneven Democracy), 20106

Zoltan L. Hajnal 7

Runner-Up, Heinz Eulau Award for the best article published in the American Political Science
Review, 2010 (Who Loses in American Democracy?)
Research Grant, UCSD Latino Studies Research Initiative, 2009
Fellow, Center for US-Mexican Studies 2007-2008
Fellowship, Chris and Warren Hellman Foundation, 2006
Fellow, Center for the Study of Democratic Politics, Princeton University, 2005-2006
Fellow, Russell Sage Foundation 2005-2006 (Declined)
Fellow, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD 2005-2006 (Declined)
Research Grant, Russell Sage Foundation 2005-2006
Research Grant, The Civil Rights Project (Harvard/Berkeley) 2005
Fellow, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, UCSD, 2003-2004
Chris and Warren Hellman Fellowship, Summer 2003
Faculty Career Development Award, University of California, 2003
Best Paper in Urban Politics Award, Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association(Why a Skewed Electorate Does Matter: Nonparticipation in Local Elections), 2002
Chancellor’s Summer Faculty Fellowship, UCSD 2002
Public Policy Institute of California Research Fellowship, 2001-2002
Nominated for Pi Sigma Alpha Award (Best Paper at the Annual Meeting of the Midwest PoliticalScience Association), 2000
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship, Brandeis University, 1998-1999
The Frederick Douglas Institute for African and African-American Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship,
1998-1999 (declined)
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Dissertation Fellowship, 1995-1997
National Science Foundation Urban Poverty Fellowship, 1993-1996
Mellon Foundation Pre-Dissertation Research Fellowship, 1994

7Zoltan L. Hajnal 8Patricia Lynn Baker Prize for best Master’s Thesis in Urban Politics, University of Chicago, 1993
University of Chicago Political Science Fellowship, 1991-1993
SERVICE/PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Director: Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, UCSD
Briefings: Presentations to two House Judiciary Committees on Voter Identification Laws and theSuppression of Minority Votes
Faculty Head: Master’s in Public Policy Program, GPS, UCSD
Associate Dean for Faculty: GPS, UCSD
Expert Witness: Redondo Beach vs State of California on concurrent local electionsExpert Witness: Greater Birmingham Ministries, et al. vs. John H. Merrill (Strict Voter
Identification in Alabama)
Expert Consultant: Voting Rights Case in Georgia for the Department of JusticeCo-author: Amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in support of BAMN’schallenge to Prop 2, the ban on affirmative action in Michigan
Co-Author: Amicus brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in support ofBAMN’s challenge to Prop 2, the ban on affirmative action in Michigan
Expert Witness: State of Arizona in support of ARS 16-204 on concurrent local elections
Editorial Boards: American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics
Media: Al Jazeera (Consider This, Inside Story), PBS (The Hidden Brain, The News Hour, FullFocus, These Days), UCSD-TV, Fox News (Alan Colmes), Public Radio International (To thePoint), New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, TheEconomist, The Atlantic, The New Republic, International Herald Tribune, San Francisco
Chronicle, San Diego Union Tribune, National Journal, Vox, Boston Review, The Guardian, DieWelt, Der Spiegel, Slate, Political Violence at a Glance, Politico, Monkey Cage.
Contributor: Latino in Society Program, The Aspen InstituteContributor: Scholars Strategy Network
Editor: Political Behavior Section of Political Science Network8Zoltan L. Hajnal 9

Board Member: Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Board Member: Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research
Member: Urban Politics Executive Committee, APSA
Member: APSA Best Dissertation Committee, APSA Race and Ethnicity Best Book Award, APSA
Urban Politics Best Book Award
Co-chair: The Identity, Community, and Participation working group, Social Science ResearchCouncil
Section Head: Midwest Political Science Association, American Political Science AssociationConference Organizer: Politics of Race, Immigration and Ethnicity Consortium
Director of Graduate Studies: Department of Political Science, UCSD
Coordinator: American Political Institutions Project, UCSD
Coordinator: Senior Honors Seminar Program, UCSD
Member: Graduate Admissions Committee, UCSD
Member: Working Group on the Creation of UCSD Cultural Diversity Requirement
Member: Graduate Program Diversity Committee, UCSD
Chair: Target of Opportunity Hiring Committee, UCSD
Diversity Coordinator: Department of Political Science, UCSD
Founder and Coordinator: Race and Identity Working Group, UCSD
Mentor: Thurgood Marshall Mentor Program, McNair Program, Academic Internship Program
Dissertation Committee Member: David Searle, Andrew Janusz (co-chair), Nazita Lajevardi(chair), Michael Rivera (chair), Neil Visalvanich (chair), Lindsay Nielson (chair), Chris Dawes,Justin Phillips, Jessica Trounstine, Mike Binder, Michael Tesler, Craig Burnett, Rebecca Franklin,
Ben Backes
Reviewer: National Science Foundation, American Political Science Review, American Journal ofPolitical Science, Journal of Politics, Political Behavior, American Politics Review, Political
Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly, Urban Affairs Review,DuBois Review

9Zoltan L. Hajnal 10Courses: Political Behavior, Race and Politics in the United States, Introduction to Policy Analysis,
Research on the Urban Underclass, Urban Politics, Inter-racial Relations, American Politics
Workshop, Senior Honors Seminar.

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