Morris P. Fiorina, Hoover senior fellow, has been named the 2009 Harold Lasswell Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (AAPSS) at a ceremony held at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on May 7, 2009. Fiorina was recognized for his groundbreaking research on elections, public opinion, and the quality of representation—that is, how well the positions of elected officials reflect the preferences of the public.
Douglas S. Massey, president of the AAPSS, noted that Fiorina has challenged the idea that the nation’s electorate has become increasingly politically polarized. “Using public opinion data, he has showed that, while the media present the country as being divided over ‘hot button’ political issues, the majority of Americans identify themselves as moderate and hold middle-of-the-road views on most major issues,” Massey said. “What has become polarized, Fiorina’s research reveals, are the ideological views of the elite, including those of political commentators. In his most current research, Fiorina has tackled the question of whether there is a disconnect between elected officials and the preferences of the public in what he calls the ‘breakdown of representation in America.’”
Each academy fellow is designated to a position named after a distinguished scholar and public servant who has written over the past century for the academy’s bimonthly journal, the Annals of the Academy of Political and Social Science.
Fiorina is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Wendt Family Professor of Political Science at Stanford University.
Fiorina’s acceptance remarks are available online here.
