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 several books including 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.
Publications
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]
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.
January 25, 2021 Washington Post
Eric Patashnik co-wrote this piece on how McConnell may justify GOP votes to convict Trump without appearing to betray the party.
January 7, 2021
In January 2021, Eric M. Patashnik and Wendy J. Schiller provided commentary on the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol. Their insights draws from points made in their recently published edited volume, "Dynamics of American Democracy," (University of Kansas Press).
December 23, 2020 Spectrum
Eric Patashnik appeared on this podcast episode to discuss the new paperback edition of his coauthored book, Unhealthy Politics: The Battle over Evidence-Based Medicine.
November 16, 2020
In December 2020, Eric M. Patashnik and Wendy J. Schiller published, "Dynamics of American Democracy: Partisan Polarization, Political Competition and Government Performance." This edited volume brings together leading scholars and practitioners to examine the challenges plaguing contemporary American politics, including ideological polarization, partisan sorting, and legislative stalemate.
September 14, 2020
In September 2020, Eric Patashnik wrote, "Comparitively Ineffective? PCORI and the Uphill Battle to Make Evidence Count in US Medicine," a piece analyzing the trials and tribulations of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The Institute was created to promote research on the comparative effectiveness of treatment options, and has struggled to have an impact on the decisions of physicians and payers.
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Tune in to the conversation starting Monday, May 11 at 2 p.m. on Watson's YouTube channel.
5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. True North Classroom, Stephen Robert '62 Hall, 280 Brook Street