April Clark

Emphasis

  • American Politics
    • Voter Behavior and Political Participation
    • Political Socialization and Public Opinion
    • Campaigns and Elections
    • Institutions
  • Research Methodology

Overview of Scholarly Activity

April K. Clark is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and the director of graduate studies. Dr. Clark also serves as the department’s internship director for undergraduate students. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Santa Barbara, California and her B.A. from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

Prior to coming to NIU, Dr. Clark was a research associate at the Pew Research Center (Social and Demographic Trends, and the People and the Press). Her research and teaching interests include political behavior and political institutions, specifically public opinion, voting and political participation and civic engagement. Her published work covers a broad array of topics, including environmentalism, social trust, social capital, political tolerance, corruption and politics and religion.

Her research has appeared in The Washington Post, USA Today, The Huffington Post, NBC.com, and other national and local media outlets. Dr. Clark teaches courses on American politics, political behavior, public opinion, political psychology and research methods.

Publications

2019. "Polarization Politics and Hopes for a Green Agenda in the U.S." with Florian Justwan, Juliet E. Carlisle, and Michael Clark. Environmental Politics (forthcoming). 2019.

"Winners and Losers Reconsidered: Party Support, Character Valence, and Satisfaction with Democracy" with Debra Leiter and Michael Clark. European Political Science Review (forthcoming). 2018.

"Pushing forward a Green Agenda: Cohort and Period Effects on Support for Environmental Funding" with Juliet E. Carlisle. Political Research Quarterly DOI: 10.1177/1065912918817193 (forthcoming). 2018.

"Social Media Echo Chambers and Democratic Dissatisfaction." With Justwan, Florian, Bert Baumgaertner, Juliet Carlisle, and Michael Clark. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion & Parties, 28(4): 424-442. 2018.

"Gendered Support for Democratic Values? The Mediating Influence of Psychological Security on Norm Support and Political Tolerance." With Marie Eisenstein. Journal of Religion & Society, 20: 1-24.

2017. Eisenstein, Marie and April K. Clark. "Explaining Differing Democratic Norm Commitment: Rethinking the Religion‐Psychological Security‐Democratic Norm Support Connection Politics and Religion." Politics and Religion, Published online: 08 May 2017. doi: 10.1017/S175504831700030X.

2017. Eisenstein, Marie, April K. Clark, and Ted Jelen. "Political Tolerance and Religion: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis, 1984-2014." Review of Religious Research, Published online: 02 May 2017. doi: 10.1007/s13644-017-0295-4.

2017. Carlisle, Juliette and April K. Clark. "Green for God: The Role of Religion and Environmentalism." Environment and Behavior, Published online: 16 February 2017. doi: 10.1177/0013916517693356.

2016. "Updating the Gender Gap(s): A Multilevel Approach to What Underpins Changing Cultural Attitudes." Politics and Gender, forthcoming - Published online: 04 October 2016, pp. 1-31; doi:10.1017/S1743923X16000520.

2015. "Rethinking the Decline in Social Capital." Special issue marking the 20th anniversary of the publication of Robert Putnam's seminal article "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital." American Politics Research, Vol. 43, No. 4, 569-601.

2014. "Political Tolerance, Psychological Security, and Religion: Disaggregating the Mediating Influence of Psychological Security." With Marie Eisenstein. Politics and Religion, Volume 7(2): 287-317.

2014. "Stability and Change: Intolerance of Communists." With Michael Clark and Marie Eisenstein at Sage Open, Jan.-Mar.: 1-16.

2013. "Interpersonal Trust: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis Revisited." With Marie Eisenstein. Social Science Research 42(2): 361-375.

2007. Keeter, Scott, Courtney Kennedy, April K. Clark, Trevor Tompson, and Mike Mokrzycki. "What's Missing from National RDD Surveys? The Impact of the Growing Cell-Only Population." Public Opinion Quarterly, 71(5):772-792.

Book Chapters

2017. Clark, April K. "Measuring Corruption: Transparency International's "Corruption Perceptions Index"" in Corruption, Discretion, and Accountability: Consequences for U.S. Politics, eds. Cara Rabe-Hemp and Nancy Lind. United Kingdom: Emerald Insight Publishers.

2015. Eisenstein, Marie and April K. Clark, "Heterogeneous Religion Measures and Political Tolerance Outcomes," in Carriers of the Creed? Religion and Political Tolerance in the U.S., ed. Paul Djupe. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

2009. Streb, Matthew J. and April K. Clark, "The Public and Political Corruption," in Michael A. Genovese and Victoria A. Farrar-Myers, eds. Corruption and American Politics: Cambria Press.

2008. Dimock, Michael, April K. Clark, and Juliana Menasce Horowitz. "Campaign Dynamics and the Swing Vote in the 2004 Election." In The Swing Voters in American Politics, ed. William G. Mayer. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.


April Clark

Contact

Office: Zulauf Hall 402
815-753-7055
aclark9@niu.edu

Contact Us

Department of Political Science
Zulauf Hall 415
815-753-1011
815-753-6302 (fax)

Office Hours

Monday - Thursday
8 a.m. - noon
1 - 4:30 p.m.

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