John R. Zaller is a political scientist

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 and professor specializing in public opinion

Public opinion

Public opinion is the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Public opinion can also be defined as the complex collection of opinions of many different people and the sum of all their views....

 at the University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

. He was an Editor of the American Political Science Review

American Political Science Review

The American Political Science Review is the flagship publication of the American Political Science Association and is the most prestigious journal in political science according to the ISI 2004 Journal Citation Report...

. He graduated from Saint Monica Catholic High School in Santa Monica, CA. He pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of California, San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 in 1984.

Zaller is best known for his 1992 book The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion is a 1992 non-fiction book by political scientist John Zaller that examines the processes by which individuals form and express political opinions and the implications this has for public opinion research. The book has been called "the single most important...

, in which he argues that changes in public opinion are due to the influences of political elite

Elite

Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...

s. His more recent work has focused on political parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

in a new book with Marty Cohen, David Karol and Hans Noel (The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations before and after Reform. University of Chicago Press, 2008) Although he acknowledges the mainstream media's shortcomings, Zaller holds a positive view of "infotainment", arguing that even sensationalist and superficial media coverage of politics serves to inform and does increase awareness of political issues. Zaller teaches undergraduate classes on electoral politics and the mass media's influence on public opinion in election cycles.

List of works

• The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations Before and After Reform, 2008, with Marty Cohen, David Karol and Hans Noel.
• The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion, 1992, Cambridge University Press.
• The American Ethos, Public Attitudes Toward Capitalism and Democracy, 1984, with Herbert McCloskey, Harvard University Press.

Zaller has also authored numerous academic articles.

External links

• Profile on the UCLA Political Science Department website