Lawrence R. Jacobs

Jacobs is a leading scholar of public opinion and its influence on public policy and political outcomes broadly conceived. His meticulous scholarship includes detailed analyses of the role of public opinion on health care reforms and outcomes, ranging from his first book to his recent book with Theda Skocpol on the Affordable Care Act, and his paper with Suzanne Mettler in Perspectives on Politics about the implementation and policy consequences for public opinion of the Obama reform. In his book with Druckman, Who Governs? Presidents, Public Opinion, and Manipulation (2015). This scholarship has shifted political science understanding of the relationship between politicians and voters, demonstrating a causality from the former to the latter which refines the standard view. Jacobs also strives to use his public opinion expertise to probe larger questions in US politics, notably economic inequality and class divisions and to expand political economy understandings of institutions such as the Federal Reserve.