The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group is a research collaboration of more than two dozen analysts and scholars from across the political spectrum examining and delivering insights on the evolving views of American voters.
As the 2016 presidential campaign unfolded, it became increasingly clear that the underlying values and beliefs driving voter decisions needed to be better understood. To that end, we convened a politically diverse group of conservative, progressive, and independent public opinion experts to study the electorate together through new primary research. The group seeks not to achieve consensus, but to engage in discussion about how the views of the electorate are evolving and what the implications of those changes may be.
The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group is led by project director Alicia Kolar Prevost; research director Robert Griffin; research assistant Mayesha Quasem; Joe Goldman, and Lauren Strayer.
Voter Study Group members analyze data through a variety of social and political lenses, and they author reports that convey their insights. Each report represents the views of its respective author(s) and not the collective views of Voter Study Group. However, reports are intentionally reviewed by Voter Study Group members spanning the political spectrum who may comment and advise prior to publication.
Voter Study Group regularly consults data from two primary research tools:
Launched in partnership with YouGov in 2016, the Views of the Electorate Research Survey (VOTER Survey) interviews large subsets of the American electorate to allow for deep exploration of their beliefs about important issues and tracking of any shifts. Part of an extensive longitudinal study, the 2016 and 2017 VOTER Surveys interviewed up to 8,000 Americans who had been previously interviewed both in 2011 – 2012 and in July 2016. The 2018 VOTER Survey interviewed 6,005 Americans between April 5 and May 14, 2018 — 4,705 of whom have been interviewed previously and 1,300 of whom were part of an additional sample of 18- to 24-year-olds and Hispanics.
Launched in 2019, Nationscape is a research collaboration between political scientists Lynn Vavreck and Chris Tausanovitch at UCLA and Democracy Fund Voter Study Group. It is fielded by Lucid. The survey is designed to reveal in-depth insights on voter attitudes as they take shape across time, place, and demographic groups in the leadup to election 2020. Each week, Nationscape interviews approximately 6,250 Americans. Over 16 months, these interviews total 500,000 and span every county, congressional district, and mid-sized U.S. city.
Participants in the Voter Study Group are leaders in their fields, bringing a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. They examine data and explore voter sentiments in order to help political leaders respond and connect to their needs. Get further acquainted with the participants below.
University of Maryland
American Enterprise Institute
University of Chicago
Pew Research Center
New America
Cato Institute
Stanford University
Emory University
Brookings Institution
Democracy Fund
Democracy Fund Voter Study Group
Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI)
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
Asian American Decisions
Hudson Institute
Open Society Project at the Niskanen Center
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
Georgetown University
Ethics and Public Policy Center
Latino Decisions
Democracy Fund Voter Study Group
Democracy Fund Voter Study Group
Echelon Insights
Vanderbilt University
Democracy Fund
Center for American Progress
Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Brookings Institution
The Winston Group
Roosevelt Institute
The Democracy Fund Voter Study Group project is made possible through support from Democracy Fund. The views and opinions on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Democracy Fund, nor of all Voter Study Group participants.
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