Affiliated Faculty
Todd Donovan (PhD, University of California, Riverside)
(360) 650-3018
e-mail: donovan@cc.wwu.edu
Todd Donovan received his Ph.d. in Political Science in 1991, from the University of California at Riverside, after studying economics and government as an undergraduate at CSU Sacramento. He is now a Professor in the Political Science Department at Western Washington University, in Bellingham, WA.
Todd has published dozens of academic articles, including several on initiatives, and has co-authored several books, including two on direct democracy: Demanding Choices: Opinion and Voting in Direct Democracy (University of Michigan Press, 1998), and Citizens as Legislators: Direct Democracy in the United States (Ohio State University Press, 1998). His latest book ( Electoral Reform and Minority Representation with Shaun Bowler, 2002) examines the use of semi-proportional representation elections in the US. He and Bowler are currently working on a book about proposals for expanding electoral democracy in America, titled Reforming the Republic .
Todd's primary academic expertise is in the areas of direct democracy, election systems, and representation. He has received grants to study electoral politics and direct democracy in the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, and has been asked to speak on these topics at numerous state, national and international meetings. He provides testimony about the initiative process before the state legislature, and has worked as an expert for the State of Washington defending Washington's blanket primary election system in a case currently before the US District Court of Western Washington. Todd has conducted statewide polls about the use of initiatives, and some of this research was featured recently in an article in the Seattle Times .
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