headshot of Henry E. Brady

Research Expertise and Interest

comparative politics, public policy, electoral politics, political participation, survey research, program evaluation, statistical methods in the social sciences, social welfare policy, Soviet Union, inequality in America

Research Description

Professor Brady's current research interests include:

  • The dynamics of public opinion and political campaigns
  • Trust in institutions 
  • Future of California politics and public policy  
  • Future of democracy in America
  • Unequal political participation in America.
  • Strategic and foresight methods for thinking about the future 
  • Statistical methodology and data science 

Brady has co-authored numerous books including Letting the People Decide: Dynamics of a Canadian Election (1992) which won the Harold Adams Innis Award for the best book in the social sciences published in English in Canada in 1992-1993; Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics (1995) which was featured in an American Political Science Review symposium in 1997 and which won the Converse Award for making a lasting contribution to research on political behavior; Expensive Children in Poor Families: The Intersection of Childhood Disabilities and Welfare, 2000; The Unheavenly Chorus: Unequal Political Participation and the Broken Promise of American Democracy (2012), and Unequal and Unrepresented:  Political Inequality and the People's Voice in the New Gilded Age (2018).  He has also co-edited Capturing Campaign Effects (2006), Rethinking Social Inquiry: Diverse Tools, Shared Standards (2004, 2010), and The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology (2008). Brady has also authored numerous articles on political participation, political methodology, the dynamics of public opinion, and other topics. He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  

In the News

America on edge: Berkeley scholars’ early election thoughts

UC Berkeley scholars awoke Wednesday, Nov. 4 to signs of a deeply divided U.S. electorate, and no blue wave on the horizon. Despite a surge in early voting, ballots were still being counted in several battleground states. As of noon that day, the race between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden remained too close to call. 

COVID-19: Economic impact, human solutions

The COVID-19 pandemic is confronting every level of the U.S. economy with an unprecedented challenge, and the government must mount a sustained, ambitious economic response lasting months and perhaps years, UC Berkeley economists said in an online forum today.

Berkeley a big part of new UC initiative on global food needs

The University of California is launching an initiative to marshal resources across the UC campuses — including Berkeley’s 90 courses, 150 faculty and staff and multiple institutes and centers devoted to the study of agriculture and food — to address global food challenges.

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