2026 – What Goes Without Saying: Navigating Political Discussion in America (2022, Cambridge University Press) by Taylor N. Carlson and Jaime E. Settle
This remarkable book offers a clear portrait of how political talk, though common in Americans’ daily lives, can also be deeply uncomfortable. It provides a nuanced and compelling explanation for the public’s reluctance to engage across political divides.
This pioneering work takes an innovative approach to public opinion methods by combining survey self-reports with behavioral economic measures and psychophysiological indicators. The authors show how social dynamics, emotional responses, and personal relationships can limit the willingness to speak openly, challenging the assumption that more discussion is an uncomplicated democratic good.
Through the careful integration of theory, method, and real-world relevance—expressed in engaging and accessible prose—this book makes a significant and lasting impact on our understanding of public opinion formation and its resistance to change.
2025 – Degrees of Democracy: Politics, Public Opinion, and Policy by Stuart N. Soroka and Christopher Wlezien
2024 – Incarceration Nation by Peter K. Enns
2023 – Behind the Mule by Michael Dawson
2022 – Bit by Bit: Social Research in the Digital Age by Matthew J. Salganik
2021 – Applied Qualitative Research Design: A Total Quality Framework Approach by Margaret R. Roller & Paul J. Lavrakas
2020 – Practical Tools for Designing and Weighting Survey Samples by Richard Valliant, Frauke Kreuter & Jill Dever
2019 – Hearing the Other Side: Deliberative versus Participatory Democracy by Diana C. Mutz
2018 – Prejudice in Politics: Group Position, Public Opinion, and the Wisconsin Treaty Rights Dispute by Lawrence Bobo
2017 – Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics by Susan Herbst
2016 – Affluence and Influence: Economic Inequality and Political Power in America by Martin Gilens
2015 – Social Trends in American Life: Findings from the General Social Survey since 1972 by Peter V. Marsden
2014 – Designing Effective Web Surveys by Mick Couper
2013 – Survey Methods in Multinational, Multiregional, and Multicultural Contexts by Janet A. Harkness, Michael Braun, Brad Edwards, Timothy P. Johnson, Lars E. Lyberg, Peter Ph. Mohler, Beth-Ellen Pennell & Tom W. Smith
2012 – Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics by Sidney Verba, Kay Lehman Schlozman & Henry E. Brady
2011 – Survey Non-Response by Robert M. Groves, Don A. Dillman, John L. Eltinge & Roderick J. A. Little
2010 – Thinking About Answers: The Application of Cognitive Processes to Survey Methodology by Seymour Sudman, Norman M. Bradburn & Norbert Schwarz
2009 – News That Matters: Television and American Opinion by Shanto Iyengar & Donald Kinder
2008 – Nonresponse in Household Interview Surveys by Robert M. Groves & Mick P. Couper
2007 – What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters by Michael X. Delli Carpini & Scott Keeter
2006 – The Psychology of Survey Response by Roger Tourangeau, Lance J. Rips, & Kenneth Rasinski
2005 – Racial Attitudes in America: Trends and Interpretations by Howard Schuman, Charlotte Steeh, Lawrence Bobo, & Maria Krysan
2004 – The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John R. Zaller
