Research Themes

What Is a Good Research Prospectus?
Theda Skocpol. Government 94oa: Inequality and American Democracy (Harvard University course) Course handout [PDF]
Categories: Teaching & Higher Education

Why Detailed Referencing Matters — and How to Do It
Theda Skocpol. Course/workshop handout [PDF]
Categories: Teaching & Higher Education

Minneapolis Is Showing a New Kind of Anti-Trump Resistance
Christian Paz. Vox February 2, 2026 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

At Harvard University and Boston College, Conservatives Test Free Speech
Brooke Hauser. Boston Globe October 30, 2025 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

What No Kings Protesters Should Be Doing Now
Christian Paz. Vox October 23, 2025 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

Rising Threats to U.S. Democracy: Roots and Responses
Theda Skocpol. PS: Political Science & Politics Published online 2025; James Madison Lecture, APSA Annual Meeting, September 6, 2024 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics, Contemporary U.S. Politics, and Research Article

Theda Skocpol in Conversation with Edwin Amenta on Sociology, Political Science, Higher Education, and U.S. Politics
Edwin Amenta; Theda Skocpol. Sociologica Vol. 19, No. 3 (2025); Submitted: November 12, 2025; Published: December 22, 2025 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Interview/Profile

Fifteen Questions: Theda Skocpol on the Election, the Ivory Tower, and the New England Patriots
Jem K. Williams. The Harvard Crimson November 22, 2024 [Online Link]
Categories: Interview/Profile

Reflections on an Anniversary
Theda Skocpol. Politics Vol. 44, No. 4 (2024) [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and Revolutions

The Khaldun Award Citation — Theda Skocpol
Comparative Historical Sociology Section, American Sociological Association. American Sociological Association Khaldun Award Award presented August 2024 [PDF]
Categories: Career & Personal Life

Strategy Memo on Rust Belt Union Blues
Andrew Levison. The Democratic Strategist January 2024 [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

Kevin McCarthy’s Downfall Is the Culmination of the Tea Party
Ian Ward. POLITICO October 5, 2023 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and Interview/Profile

Immigration Clashes, Party Polarization, and Republican Radicalization: Tracking Shifts in State and National Party Platforms since 1980
Kirsten Walters; Theda Skocpol. Studies in American Political Development pp. 1-17; Received: 9 December 2022; Accepted: 11 July 2023 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

Stop the Steal’ Is a Metaphor (Interview with Theda Skocpol)
Elaine Godfrey. The Atlantic August 12, 2022 [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and Interview/Profile

Working Together to Meet the Public Challenges of This Time
Theda Skocpol. Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Exercises Phi Beta Kappa Lecture [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

Braking for Badges
Jill Radsken. Harvard Gazette Harvard Staff Writer; September 20, 2022 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Personal Life

Social Justice Campaigns and Democratic Party Gains: How Georgia’s Partisan Reformers Overtook North Carolina’s Moral Advocates
Theda Skocpol; Caroline Tervo; Kirsten Walters. Studies in American Political Development pp. 1-21; Received: 18 October 2021; Accepted: 12 April 2022 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

On University Obligations to Support Freedom of Discussion, Research, and Teaching (Academic Freedom Principles Statement from SSN Leaders)
Theda Skocpol (leader/participant); Scholars Strategy Network. Scholars Strategy Network March 2022 [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and Teaching & Higher Education

Resistance Disconnect: How Indivisible’s National Advocates and Grassroots Volunteers Have Pulled Apart
Theda Skocpol; Caroline Tervo. The American Prospect February 4, 2021 [PDF]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics and US Associations and Social Movements

From the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance
Logan Gose; Theda Skocpol; Vanessa Williamson. 2020 [PDF]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

The Elite and Popular Roots of Contemporary Republican Extremism
Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo (editors). Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance 2020 [PDF]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

The Overlooked Organizational Basis of Trump’s 2016 Victory
Michael Zoorob; Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo (editors). Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance 2020 [PDF]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

Trump’s Trump: Lou Barletta and Anti-Immigrant Politics
Emily Thos; Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo (editors). Upending American Politics: Polarizing Parties, Ideological Elites, and Citizen Activists from the Tea Party to the Anti-Trump Resistance 2020 [PDF]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

Talking Patriots with Harvard Political Scientist and Superfan Theda Skocpol
Colleen Walsh. Harvard Gazette Harvard Staff Writer; January 17, 2019 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Personal Life

Thinking Strategically about Policy Feedbacks: A Practical, Forward-Looking Guide
Theda Skocpol. Scholars Strategy Network Workshop SSN Workshop, September 2018 [PDF]
Categories: Teaching & Higher Education

When Political Mega-Donors Join Forces: How the Koch Network and the Democracy Alliance Influence Organized U.S. Politics on the Right and Left
Alexander Hertel-Fernandez; Theda Skocpol; Jason Sclar. Studies in American Political Development Vol. 32, October 2018, pp. 127-165 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

A Guide to Rebuilding the Democratic Party, from the Ground Up
Theda Skocpol. Vox January 5, 2017 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Commentary on US Politics

Business Associations, Conservative Networks, and the Ongoing Republican War over Medicaid Expansion
Alexander Hertel-Fernandez; Theda Skocpol; Daniel Lynch. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law Vol. 41, No. 2, April 2016; DOI 10.1215/03616878-3476141 [Online Link]
Categories: American Political Development & Public Policies, Contemporary U.S. Politics, and Research Article

The Koch Network and Republican Party Extremism
Theda Skocpol; Alexander Hertel-Fernandez. Perspectives on Politics Vol. 14, No. 3, September 2016 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

Naming the Problem: What It Will Take to Counter Extremism and Engage Americans in the Fight against Global Warming
Theda Skocpol. Scholars Strategy Network / Columbia School of Journalism Symposium Prepared for Symposium on The Politics of America's Fight Against Global Warming, February 14, 2013; Harvard University [PDF]
Categories: Contemporary U.S. Politics and Research Article

The Rush to Organize: Explaining Associational Formation in the United States, 1860s-1920s
Jocelyn Elise Crowley; Theda Skocpol. American Journal of Political Science Vol. 45, No. 4 (October 2001), pp. 813-829 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and US Associations and Social Movements

A Nation of Organizers: The Institutional Origins of Civic Voluntarism in the United States
Theda Skocpol; Marshall Ganz; Ziad Munson. The American Political Science Review Vol. 94, No. 3 (2000), pp. 527-546 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and US Associations and Social Movements

The Tocqueville Problem: Civic Engagement in American Democracy
Theda Skocpol. Social Science History Vol. 21, No. 4 (Winter 1997), pp. 455-479 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and US Associations and Social Movements

Women’s Associations and the Enactment of Mothers’ Pensions in the United States
Theda Skocpol; Marjorie Abend-Wein; Christopher Howard; Susan Goodrich Lehmann. The American Political Science Review Vol. 87, No. 3 (September 1993), p. 686 [PDF]
Categories: Research Article and US Associations and Social Movements

Rentier State and Shi’a Islam in the Iranian Revolution
Theda Skocpol. Theory and Society Vol. 11, No. 3 (May 1982), pp. 265-283 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and Revolutions

France, Russia, China: A Structural Analysis of Social Revolutions
Theda Skocpol. Comparative Studies in Society and History Vol. 18, No. 2 (April 1976), pp. 175-210 [PDF] [Online Link]
Categories: Research Article and Revolutions