Seth Masket

Seth Masket

Professor; Director, Center on American Politics

  • Faculty

What I do

Professor of Political Science
Director, Center on American Politics

Specialization(s)

political parties, American Politics, polarization, nominations, state legislatures, social networks, campaigns and elections

Professional Biography

Seth Masket is a professor of political science and the director of the Center on American Politics at the University of Denver. He is the author of Learning from Loss: The Democrats 2016-2020 (Cambridge, 2020), The Inevitable Party: Why Attempts to Kill the Party System Fail and How they Weaken Democracy (Oxford, 2016), and No Middle Ground: How Informal Party Organizations Control Nominations and Polarize Legislatures (Michigan, 2009), as well as a co-author of a recent textbook on political parties. He studies political parties, campaigns and elections, and state legislatures. He contributes regularly at Politico, Mischiefs of Faction, and the Denver Post. He is currently working on a book project examining the Republican Party’s interpretations of the 2020 election and its preparations for 2024.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Political Science, UCLA, 2004
  • MA, Political Management, George Washington University, 1996
  • BA, Political Science, UC Berkeley, 1991

Professional Affiliations

  • American Political Science Association

Research

Political parties, campaigns and elections, state legislatures.

Areas of Research

political parties
American politics
polarization
nominations
state legislatures
social networks
campaigns and elections

Key Projects

  • Collaborative Research: Healing the Rifts - A Study of Intraparty Factionalism at Presidental Nominating Conventions

Awards

  • Distinguished Scholar Award, University of Denver
  • Emerging Scholar Award, APSA Section on Political Organizations and Parties