Chris W. Bonneau is professor of political science at the University of Pittsburgh, co-founder of the Pitt Prison Education Project, and Past President of the University Senate (2018-2021). He received his BA from Valparaiso University, an MA from Ball State University, and an MA and PhD from Michigan State University. Chris has authored 3 books (Strategic Behavior and Policy Choice on the U.S. Supreme Court, In Defense of Judicial Elections, and the award-winning Voters’ Verdicts: Citizens, Campaigns, and Institutions in State Supreme Court Elections), edited 2 others (Making Law and Courts Research Relevant and Judicial Elections in the 21st Century), and published numerous scholarly articles and chapters on judicial politics, specifically the politics of state judicial selection. He is a frequent speaker before academics, attorneys, bar associations, and policymakers. Chris was a recipient of the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2021.
Courses
Sports and American Politics
Mass Incarceration
Race and the Criminal Justice System
American Political Process
Judicial Politics
Education & Training
- PhD, Michigan State University, 2002
Representative Publications
Bonneau, Chris W. and Kristin Kanthak. N.d. "Desk Rejecting 'Against Desk Rejects!''' PS: Political Science and Politics. Forthcoming.
Bonneau, Chris W., Kristin Kanthak, Amanda Leifson, and Shane M. Redman. 2021. "The Review Process and the Citation Gap: The Role of the Editor's Nudge.'' Journal of Politics. Forthcoming.
Bonneau, Chris W. and Kristin Kanthak. 2020. "'Stronger Together': Political Ambition and the Presentation of Women Running for Office.'' Politics, Groups, and Identities 8 (3): 576-594.
Bonneau, Chris W., Jarrod Kelly, Kira Pronin, Shane Redman, and Matthew Zarit. 2017. “Evaluating the Effects of Multiple Opinion Rationales on Supreme Court Legitimacy.” American Politics Research 45 (May): 335-365.
Bonneau, Chris W. and Melinda Gann Hall. 2016. Judicial Elections in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge.
Bonneau, Chris W. and Damon M. Cann. 2015. Voters’ Verdicts: Citizens, Campaigns, and Institutions in State Supreme Court Elections. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
Bonneau, Chris W. and Damon Cann. 2015. “Party Identification and Vote Choice in Partisan and Nonpartisan Judicial Elections.” Political Behavior 37 (March): 43-66.
Bartels, Brandon L. and Chris W. Bonneau. 2015. Making Law and Courts Research Relevant: The Normative Implications of Empirical Research. New York: Routledge.
Research Interests
Judicial Politics
Research Design
Representation
