David C. Barker

David C. Barker is a nonresident senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at Brookings, a professor of government at American University (AU), and a faculty affiliate at the University of Virginia/Vanderbilt University Center for Effective Lawmaking. From 2024 to 2025, Barker served as director of the Social and Economic Sciences Division at the National Science Foundation, where he also co-led the Agency’s Public Access/Open Science initiative and its Creating Opportunities Everywhere Initiative. From 2017 to 2024, Barker directed American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, where he helped establish the Program on Legislative Negotiation (2019 to current), the New Perspectives on Studies of American Governance Program (2020 to current), the Thurber Dialogues on Democracy (2020 to current), and the Madison Prize for Constitutional Excellence (2019 to current).  

From 2012 to 2017, Barker directed the Institute for Social Research at Sacramento State University, where he co-founded the CALSPEAKS Opinion Research program, the Public Health Survey Research Program, and the Valley Vision Regional Attitudes Survey. From 2005 to 2012, he was an associate professor of political science (and director of Graduate Studies) at the University of Pittsburgh, with courtesy appointments in Religious Studies and at the University Center for Social and Urban Research. At various times, Barker has also held courtesy appointments at the University of Sydney, the University of Glasgow, and Science Po (Paris). He has received multiple awards for research and teaching, and he has chaired or co-chaired 10 dissertations.

Barker studies American politics, public opinion, political psychology, political governance, and social welfare policy. On those topics, he has authored or coauthored five books (and one co-edited volume) at university presses, dozens of articles in peer reviewed scientific journals, over 40 policy/survey reports, and many more articles for popular outlets. His most recent book, “Dealmakers: The Psychology of Legislative Compromise” (with Andrew M.O. Ballard and Christopher Jan Carman; Oxford University Press) hits shelves in December of 2025. His next book, “Suspicious Minds: America’s Politics of Intellect and Indignation” (with Ron Elving; Oxford University Press) is expected in 2026.

Finally, Barker has served as a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 80 externally funded grants/contracts (over $20 million), including from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and many others.