David B. Magleby

David B. Magleby is nationally recognized for his expertise on direct democracy, voting behavior, and campaign finance. He received his BA from the University of Utah and his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently Distinguished Professor of Political Science. Prior to coming to BYU, Professor Magleby taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the University of Virginia. From 1982 to 2000 and again from 2012 to 2014, Professor Magleby organized and directed the KBYU–Utah Colleges Exit Poll, a statewide poll involving the coordinated efforts of hundreds of students from several Utah colleges and universities. His books include Direct Legislation (1984), The Money Chase: Congressional Campaign Finance Reform (1990), The Myth of the Independent Voter (1992), and several editions of Government by the People, an American government textbook. He has edited or coedited eleven books and published numerous articles in political science or law journals. He is a former Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association, Fulbright Scholar at Oxford University, and past president of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society. Professor Magleby is the recipient of many honors, including the BYU Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Teacher Award, the 1990 Utah Professor of the Year award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and Carnegie Foundation, and the Rowman & Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science. At BYU he served as chair of the Political Science Department and dean of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. As has been the case with much of his work at BYU, he was assisted by BYU undergraduates in preparing this lecture. He expresses appreciation to Caroline Black, Geoff Cannon, Andrew Jensen, Kirsten Hinck, and Madeleine Read for their assistance.