David Brady

Davies Family Senior Fellow
Research Team: 
Virtues Task Force (inactive)Chairman
Awards and Honors:
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Biography: 

David Brady holds the Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Professor of Political Science in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is the Davies Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.  He has published seven books and more than a hundred papers in journals and books.  Among his most recent books are Leadership and Growth (World Bank Publications, 2010) with Michael Spence, Revolving Gridlock: Politics and Policy from Carter to Bush II (Westview Press, 2006), and Red and Blue Nation? Characteristics and Causes of America’s Polarized Politics with Pietro Nivola (Brookings Institution Press, 2007).  His recent articles include “Why Is Health Care Reform So Difficult?” with Daniel Kessler, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, April 2010; “Putting the Public’s Money Where Its Mouth Is”  with Daniel Kessler, Health Affairs: The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere, August 2009, pages 917–25; “Leadership and Politics: A Perspective from the Growth Commission,” with Michael Spence, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 25, no. 2 (2009): 205–18; “The 2010 Elections: Why Did Political Science Forecasts Go Awry?” with Morris P. Fiorina and Arjun Wilkins, 2011.

Brady has been on continual appointment at Stanford University since 1986, where he has served as associate dean for Academic Affairs in the Graduate School of Business (GSB) and as vice provost for Distance Learning.  He has twice been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1987.  He presently holds the Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Professorship in Ethics at the Business School and was deputy director of the Hoover Institution from 2004-2014.

During his teaching career, he won the Dinkelspiel Award for service to undergraduates, the Richard Lyman Prize for service to alumni, the Bob Davies Award and the Jaedicke Silver Cup from the GSB, and the first Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award given at Stanford.  He also won the George Brown Teaching Award at Rice University.

Filter By:

Topic

Type

Recent Commentary

Blank Section (Placeholder)Featured

Decoding Trump’s Supporters

by David Brady, Douglas Riversvia Defining Ideas
Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Donald is leading in the polls, but who exactly is prepared to vote for him? 

Featured

Who Are Trump's Supporters?

by David Brady, Douglas Riversvia Real Clear Politics
Wednesday, September 9, 2015

When Donald Trump announced he was running for president on June 16, the idea seemed faintly ridiculous. The Washington Post said that he faced “an uphill battle to be taken seriously by his rivals, political watchers and the media.”

David Brady and Douglas Rivers
Blank Section (Placeholder)

What Polls without Policy Get Wrong: Elections, Inequality, Mobility, and Taxes

by David Brady, Douglas Riversvia Fellow Talks
Tuesday, May 5, 2015

David Brady is a Davies Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; the Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Professor of Political Science and Leadership Values in the Stanford Graduate School of Business; and a professor of political science at Stanford.  Douglas Rivers is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor of political science at Stanford University.  An expert on survey research, he is also chief scientist for YouGov PLC, an international, Internet-based polling firm.  Brady and Rivers discuss polling and how to measure change over time. 

an image
Blank Section (Placeholder)Analysis and Commentary

What Happened in 2014? — Examining the Midterms with David Brady and Morris Fiorina

by David Brady, Morris P. Fiorinavia Fellow Talks
Monday, November 17, 2014

Breaking down the lessons from the 2014 midterm elections.

Blank Section (Placeholder)

The 2014 Congressional Elections in Historical Perspective

by David Bradyvia Fellow Talks
Thursday, October 2, 2014

David Brady, Hoover deputy director and the Davies Family Senior Fellow, compares congressional elections from the 1880s to the present, emphasizing eras of uncertainty, party parity, and surges in independent voters.

Flex Time

by Michael Spence, David Bradyvia Hoover Digest
Wednesday, July 9, 2014

How to retain a vibrant economy in a politically dysfunctional system? Embrace flexibility.

Capitol Building

Polarization, Broken Government, and the 2014 National Election

by David Bradyvia Fellow Talks
Monday, May 5, 2014

David Brady, the deputy director and Davies Family Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, discusses the state of US governance in his talk entitled “Polarization, Broken Government, and the 2014 National Election.”

US Economy
Analysis and Commentary

Politics-Proof Economies?

by Michael Spence, David Bradyvia Project Syndicate
Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Governments’ inability to act decisively to address their economies’ growth, employment, and distributional challenges has emerged as a major source of concern almost everywhere. In the United States, in particular, political polarization, congressional gridlock, and irresponsible grandstanding have garnered much attention, with many worried about the economic consequences.

US Political Parties
Analysis and Commentary

Sure, Congress is Polarized. But Other Legislatures Are More So.

by David Bradyvia The Monkey Cage (Washington Post)
Tuesday, February 18, 2014

If polarization is an American problem, why is it higher in other countries?

Breaking Chain
Analysis and Commentary

Is the U.S. Government Really Broken?

by David Bradyvia Real Clear Politics
Monday, February 3, 2014

The shutdown of the federal government last fall exacerbated the cries of those who maintain that the U.S.

Pages