Kenneth J. Dautrich (PhD, Rutgers, 1995) is an emeritus professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut. He is also the founder and former director of the Center for Survey Research&Analysis at the University of Connecticut. Previously, Dr. Dautrich was a research fellow at the Media Studies Center in New York and has served as a senior faculty fellow at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers. His first book, How the News Media Fail American Voters (Columbia University Press, 1999), received scholarly praise in numerous political science circles. He also coauthored The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and The Future of the First Amendment (Rowman&Littlefield, 2008). Dr. Dautrich’s research and teaching focus is on public opinion and American elections. He directs an annual “Future of the First Amendment” for the Knight Foundation. He has conducted hundreds of national and statewide public opinion polls on elections and public policy issues, and he founded the Master’s in Survey Research program at the University of Connecticut and taught in that program for three decades.

David A. Yalof (PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 1997; JD, University of Virginia, 1991) is department head and professor of political science at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. His first book, Pursuit of Justices: Presidential Politics and the Selection of Supreme Court Nominees (University of Chicago Press, 1999), was awarded the American Political Science Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Award as the best book published on presidential studies in 1999. He is also author of Prosecution among Friends: Presidents, Attorneys General, and Executive Branch Wrongdoing (Texas A&M University Press, 2012). Along with Ken Dautrich, he is the coauthor of The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and The Future of the First Amendment (Rowman&Littlefield, 2008). Dr. Yalof has written extensively on issues in constitutional law and Supreme Court appointment politics. His work has been published in Political Research Quarterly, Judicature, Constitutional Commentary, and various other journals.

Christina E. Bejarano (PhD and MA, University of Iowa; BA, University of North Texas) is a professor of political science in the Department of Social Sciences&Historical Studies at Texas Woman’s University. Her research and teaching interests are in American gender politics, in particular the areas of gender, race/ethnicity, and political behavior. Her interest in the conditions under which racial/ethnic minorities and women successfully compete for U.S. electoral office is reflected in her first book, The Latina Advantage: Gender, Race, and Political Success (University of Texas Press, 2013). Her work also focuses on how racial/ethnic minorities and women can shape or influence the current electoral environment, which is reflected in her book, The Latino Gender Gap in U.S. Politics (Routledge, 2014). Professor Bejarano has also written journal articles for publication in Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Women, Politics&Public Policy, and Politics&Gender.