Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University. She is widely recognized for her influential scholarship on revolutions, social policy, civic associations, and American political development. Her work has shaped the fields of political science and historical sociology through historically grounded and comparative approaches to the study of states, institutions, and democratic life.

Professor Skocpol received her Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1975 and has served in several major leadership roles at the university, including Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from 2005 to 2007 and Director of the Center for American Political Studies from 2000 to 2006. In 2007 she was awarded the Johan Skytte Prize in Political Science for her “visionary analysis of the significance of the state for revolutions, welfare, and political trust,” one of the most prestigious international honors in the field.

Her books and articles span both comparative politics and American political development, including influential works such as States and Social Revolutions (1979) and Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: The Political Origins of Social Policy in the United States (1992), which received the Woodrow Wilson Award of the American Political Science Association for the best book in political science. Across decades of scholarship, Skocpol’s research has examined the development of social policy, civic engagement, and democratic institutions in the United States, as well as broader questions about states and social change.

This website gathers the major scholarship, commentary, and teaching contributions of Theda Skocpol across a distinguished academic career. It offers an organized archive of her research and public engagement, bringing together books, articles, lectures, and commentary that have shaped debates about American politics, civic life, and democratic institutions.