Eric M. Patashnik
Julis-Rabinowitz Professor of Public Policy
Professor of Political Science
Chair, Department of Political Science
Eric M. Patashnik is Julis-Rabinowitz Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Political Science, and Chair, Department of Political Science.
Patashnik is also Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Before coming to Brown, Patashnik held faculty positions at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia, the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, and the department of political science at Yale University. During his time at UVA, he served as associate dean and acting dean at the Batten School. Patashnik is the author and editor of nine books including Countermobilization: Policy Feedback and Backlash in a Polarized Age (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming), Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine (with Alan Gerber and Conor Dowling, Princeton University Press, 2017) and Reforms at Risk: What Happens After Major Policy Changes Are Enacted (Princeton University Press, 2008). He has twice won the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration and also won the Don K. Price Book Award of the American Political Science Association. He was a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution during 1995-96, served as President of the Public Policy Section of the American Political Science Association during 2017-18, and was the editor of Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law during 2016-2019.
Patashnik received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.
I am currently working on a book manuscript on the politics of policy backlash.
A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, 6th edition (with Eugene S. Bardach). (Washington: CQ Press, 2019)
Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine (with Alan S. Gerber and Conor M. Dowling). (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2017)
Congress and Policy Making in the 21st Century (co-edited with Jeffery Jenkins). New York: Cambridge University Press, 2016.
A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, 5th edition (with Eugene S. Bardach). (Washington: CQ Press, 2016)
Living Legislation: Durability, Change, and the Politics of American Lawmaking (co-editor with Jeffrey A. Jenkins) (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012).
Reforms at Risk: What Happens After Major Policy Changes Are Enacted (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008).
Promoting the General Welfare: New Perspectives on Government Performance (co-editor with Alan S. Gerber) (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, 2006)
Putting Trust in the U.S. Budget: Federal Trust Funds and the Politics of Commitment (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). [Chinese translation, 2009]
April 3, 2023
In April 2023, Eric Patashnik edited the volume Entrenchment and Health Equity as well as authoring the introduction and a wrap-up essay summarizing the volume’s lessons for researchers, advocates, and policymakers.
August 24, 2022
Numerous Watson scholars participate in the American Political Science Association annual conference.
August 4, 2022
Eric Patashnik recently authored an essay titled, "Backlash Politics in America's Disunited and Polarized State" for the Studies in American Political Development Journal published by Cambridge University Press.
April 4, 2022 Vox
Eric Patashnik in Vox, "It’s possible this could have some influence on vote choices in the midterms, but the impact will be at the margin,”
October 20, 2021 Niskanen Center
Eric Patashnik appeared in this podcast to discuss his work on the politics of programs survivability after reforms passed Congress.
July 26, 2021
Eric Patashnik recently co-authored "How Voters Use Contextual Information to Reward and Punish: Credit Claiming, Legislative Performance, and Democratic Accountability," a study focused on how voters use contextual information to evaluate the performance of legislators.
February 18, 2021 VOX
Eric Patashnik provided commentary in this article on several features that appear to make certain policies more likely to produce backlash.