The Enduring Democracy

Kenneth J. Dautrich (PhD, Rutgers, 1995) is an emeritus professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut. He is also the founder and former director of the Center for Survey Research & Analysis at the University of Connecticut. Previously, Dr. Dautrich was a research fellow at the Media Studies Center in New York and has served as a senior faculty fellow at the Heldrich Center at Rutgers. His first book, How the News Media Fail American Voters (Columbia University Press, 1999), received scholarly praise in numerous political science circles. He also coauthored The First Amendment and the Media in the Court of Public Opinion (Cambridge University Press, 2002) and The Future of the First Amendment (Rowman & Littlefield, 2008). Dr. Dautrich's research and teaching focus is on public opinion and American elections. He directs an annual "Future of the First Amendment" for the Knight Foundation. He has conducted hundreds of national and statewide public opinion polls on elections and public policy issues, and he founded the Master's in Survey Research program at the University of Connecticut and taught in that program for three decades.