Robert Boatright

Professor, Political Science

Robert G. Boatright is Professor of Political Science at Clark University and the Director of Research for the National Institute for Civil Discourse at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on the effects of campaign and election laws on the behavior of politicians and interest groups, with a particular emphasis on primary elections and campaign finance. He is the author or editor of several books, including Reform and Retrenchment:  A Century of Efforts to Fix Primary Elections (Oxford University Press, 2024); The Deregulatory Moment? A Comparative Perspective on Changing Campaign Finance Laws (University of Michigan Press, 2016); Getting Primaried: The Causes and Consequences of Congressional Primary Challenges (University of Michigan Press, 2013); and Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada (University of Michigan Press, 2011). He has served or is serving on many different task forces studying political reform, campaign finance, and primary elections, including the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Task Force on Campaign Finance, the Campaign Finance Institute’s advisory board, and the Skoll Foundation Task Force on American Electoral Reform.

Degrees

  • Ph.D. in , University of Chicago, 1999
  • M.A. in , University of Chicago, 1994
  • B.A. in , Carleton College, 1992

Affiliated Department

Political Science

Scholarly and creative works

  • Chapters In Books

    Electoral Reform in the United States: Proposals for Combating Polarization and Extremism
    Chapter: Primary Elections

    Published by Lynne Reinner Publishers
    2025
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Nonpartisan Primaries, Open Primaries, and Voter Turnout

    Published in Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy
    2024
    Vol. 5
    Issue #363-385
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Election Reform and Campaign Finance: Did Alaska’s Top-Four Nonpartisan Primaries and Ranked Choice General Elections Affect Political Spending?

    Published in Social Science Quarterly
    2024
    Vol. 105
    Issue #5
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Reform and Retrenchment: Why the Direct Primary Failed to Change American Politics

    2024
    New York, NY
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Chapters In Books

    The Roads to Congress 2022
    Chapter: The Role of Donald Trump in the 2022 Republican Congressional Primaries

    Published by Palgrave Macmillan
    2024
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Gender, Germs, and Governors: Political Masculinity and Leadership in the U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Published in European Journal of Politics and Gender
    2024
    Robert G. Boatright, Valerie Sperling
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Public Opinion on Reforming U.S. Primaries

    Published in Social Science Quarterly
    2024
    Robert G. Boatright, Caroline J. Tolbert, Nathan Micatka
  • Presentations

    Campaign Finance and Party Systems in Nonpartisan Municipal Elections

    Urban Affairs Association Annual Meeting
    Nashville, TN
    April
    2023
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Chapters In Books

    Financing the 2020 Election
    Chapter: Political and Policy Implications following the 2020 Election

    Published by Brookings Institution Press
    2023
    Robert G. Boatright, John C Green, Molly Reynolds
  • Presentations

    Campaign Finance, Election Systems, and Extremism

    International Political Science Association Research Council on Political Finance and Corruption
    Prague, Czech Republic
    July
    2022
    Sponsored by International Political Science Association Research Council on Political Finance and Corruption
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Presentations

    Campaign Finance in Mid-Sized Cities, 2005-2021

    Midwest Political Science Association
    Chicago, IL
    April
    2022
    Sponsored by Midwest Political Science Association
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Chapters In Books

    Education, Inclusion, and Justice: International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy edited volume
    Chapter: Three Arguments for Incivility

    Published by Springer
    2022
    Robert G. Boatright, Joan McGregor, Mark Navin
  • Chapters In Books

    Polarization and Political Party Factions in the 2020 Election
    Chapter: What do the 2020 Congressional Primaries Tell us About the Direction of the Democratic Party?

    Published by Lexington Press
    2022
    Robert G. Boatright, Chris Galdieri, Tauna Sisco, Jennifer Lucas
  • Chapters In Books

    The State of the Parties
    Chapter: Congressional Primary Challenges and the Health of the Parties

    Published by Rowman and Littlefield
    2022
    Robert G. Boatright, John C Green
  • Chapters In Books

    Populism and Corruption: The Other Side of the Coin
    Chapter: Who Pays for Populism?

    Published by Edward Elgar
    2021
    Robert G. Boatright, Jonathan Mendilow, Eric Phelippeau
  • Chapters In Books

    Outside Looking In: Lobbyists’ Views on Civil Discourse in U.S. State Legislatures
    Chapter: Civility Building Efforts in U.S. State Legislatures

    Published by Washington State University Press
    2021
    Robert G. Boatright, Nicholas Lovrich, Francis Benjamin, William Schreckhise, John Pierce
  • Presentations

    Gender, Germs, and Governors: Political Masculinity and Leadership in the U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic

    Political Masculinities as an Analytical Category
    Netherlands
    June 18
    2021
    Sponsored by Research Network for Political Masculinities through the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS)
    Valerie Sperling, Robert G. Boatright
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Factional Conflict and Independent Expenditures in the 2018 Democratic House Primaries

    Published in Congress & the Presidency
    March
    2021
    Vol. 48
    Issue #1
    Robert G. Boatright, Zachary Albert
  • Presentations

    What do the 2020 Congressional Primaries Tell us About the Direction of the Democratic and Republican Parties?

    New Hampshire Institute of Politics Conference on the 2020 Election
    Zoom, but it was supposed be in Manchester, NH
    March
    2021
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Trumping Politics as Usual: Masculinity, Misogyny, and the 2016 Elections

    2020
    New York, NY
    Robert G. Boatright, Valerie Sperling
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Primary Election Timing and Voter Turnout

    Published in Election Law Journal
    2020
    Vol. 19
    Issue #4
    Robert G. Boatright, Vincent J. Moscardelli
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    Amicus Brief, Lieu v. Federal Election Commission

    Robert G. Boatright, Anne Baker, Steve Weissman
  • Article in Refereed Journal

    Factional Conflict and Independent Expenditures in the 2018 Democratic House Primaries

    Published in Congress and the Presidency
    2020
    Robert G. Boatright, Zachary Albert
  • Chapters In Books

    Campaigns on the Cutting Edge, 4th ed.
    Chapter: Fundraising: the New Rules

    Published by Sage / Congressional Quarterly
    2020
    Robert G. Boatright, Richard Semiatin
  • Chapters In Books

    Mapping Populism
    Chapter: Populist Corruption Talk

    Published by Routledge
    2020
    Robert G. Boatright, Majia Nadesan, Amit Ron
  • Chapters In Books

    Democracy, Populism, and Truth
    Chapter: Corruption, Populism, and Sloth

    Published by Springer
    2020
    Robert G. Boatright, Molly Brigid McGrath, Richard Navin, Mark Nunan
  • Other Scholarly or Creative Work

    More than the Presidency: Making Sense of the Other Choices on the Ballot

    American Political Science Association "Raise the Vote" Series
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Presentations

    Ranked Choice Voting

    2020 Massachusetts Policy Priorities Symposium, Scholars Strategy Network
    Suffolk University, Boston, MA, March 2.
    Spring
    2020
    Sponsored by Scholars Strategy Network
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Reviews, Abstracts, Pamphlets

    The State of Political Discourse in America 2019

    2019
    National Institute for Civil Discourse
    University of Arizona
    Tucson, AZ
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Reviews, Abstracts, Pamphlets

    Book Review of Aaron S. King, Unfolding Ambition in Senate Primary Elections

    Perspectives on Politics
    2019
    Vol. 17
    Issue #4
    Perspectives on Politics
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Routledge Handbook of Primary Elections

    2018
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    The Deregulatory Moment?  A Comparative Perspective on Changing Campaign Finance Laws

    2016
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Congressional Primary Elections

    2014
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Getting Primaried:  The Changing Politics of Congressional Primary Challenges

    2013
    Robert G. Boatright
  • Book

    Interest Groups and Campaign Finance Reform in the United States and Canada

    2011
    Robert G. Boatright

Awards and grants

  • The Effect of Alaska's Top 4 / RCV System on Campaign Finance

    Unite America

    clock icon Jan. 1, 2023 – Dec. 31, 2023
  • Donor Networks and Ranked Choice Voting in Massachusetts Municipal Elections

    Skoll Foundation, Working Group on Political Extremism subgrant

    clock icon Apr. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022
  • American Corruption Talk

    University of Arizona Foundation

    clock icon Jun. 1, 2020 – May. 15, 2021
  • Congressional Primary Timing

    William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

    clock icon Apr. 1, 2014 – Apr. 1, 2017