Steven Webster

I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Indiana University. Previously, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. I hold a PhD in Political Science from Emory University.

My research focuses on the nature of political behavior and public opinion within the United States. More specifically, I study the forces driving mass polarization; how voters form perceptions of political actors, such as candidates, parties, and related political entities; and how signals from party elites shape voters’ beliefs and attitudes. In order to shed light on these questions I draw on theories from both political science and psychology. My work has been published, or is forthcoming, in The Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Science Research & Methods, Political Behavior, Electoral Studies, American Politics Research, Advances in Political Psychology, American Behavioral Scientist, Annual Review of Political Science, and Social Science Quarterly.

My book, American Rage: How Anger Shapes Our Politics, was published by Cambridge University Press in August 2020. The book presents results from a series of experiments that show that anger causes citizens to lose trust in the national government and weaken in their commitment to democratic norms and values. I then show that, despite these negative externalities, political elites strategically elicit anger within the electorate because voter anger leads to voter loyalty.