The 2024 elections showed the United States to be a politically polarized nation, with Donald Trump and the Republican Party winning by narrow margins. The presidential election was one of the longest — Trump announced his candidacy in November 2022 — and one of the most analyzed in history.
Barry Burden, who holds the UW’s Lyons Family Chair in Electoral Politics and is the director of the Elections Research Center, is one of America’s most trusted minds when it comes to analyzing and interpreting polls and elections. He’s been on the UW’s faculty since 2006, after seven years at Harvard, and his books include Why Americans Split Their Tickets, The Measure of American Elections, and Personal Roots of Representation.
On December 17, 2024, he’ll join Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association CEO Mike Knetter and fellow guests — economist Dana Peterson MS’02 and Professor Jon Pevehouse, an expert on international relations — for an episode of The UW Now Livestream that will discuss politics and expectations for the future.
My Chief Area of Research Is:
I study the ways that elections and political parties affect U.S. politics. My recent research has focused on election administration, party competition, redistricting, and women candidates for office.
Tonight on The UW Now Livestream, I’ll Discuss:
Why did Trump and other Republicans fare so well in the 2024 elections, and what does it say about the wishes of the electorate? I will explain how the results reflect factors I highlighted in my previous UW Now Livestream appearance in late 2023 and what I learned observing the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
If There’s one Thing Viewers Should Remember, It’s:
Despite the surprising twists and turns of the 2024 campaigns, elections are mainly determined by big, fundamental forces.
To Get Smart Fast, See:
Full election results from the New York Times.
