Professor Shaw earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to accepting a position at the University of Texas in the fall of 1994, he worked in several political campaigns as a survey research analyst. Professor Shaw also served as a strategist in the 2000 and 2004 presidential election campaigns. His research and teaching interests include American Government, Campaigns and Elections, Political Parties, Public Opinion and Voting Behavior, and Applied Survey Research. He is co-director of the Fox News Poll, co-director of the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll, director of the Texas Lyceum Poll, and associate Principle Investigator for the 2020 American National Election Study. Professor Shaw is also a member of the national decision team for Fox News, the advisory board for the MIT Election Data & Science Lab, the advisory board for the Annette Strauss Institute, and the editorial board for Political Behavior. Formerly, he served as President George W. Bush’s representative on the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and as one of the academic directors for President Barack Obama’s Commission for Election Administration.
Professor Shaw’s most recent book is The Turnout Myth (co-authored with John Petrocik), published by Oxford University Press. His first two books, Unconventional Wisdom: Facts and Myths about American Voters (Oxford Press, co-authored with Karen Kaufmann and John Petrocik) and The Race to 270 (Chicago Press), were published in 2008 and 2006, respectively. In addition, Professor Shaw has published articles in the leading journals in the discipline, including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Political Research Quarterly, Political Behavior, Political Communication, PS: Political Science, Party Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and American Politics Research.