Paul J. Quirk is Phil Lind Chair in U.S. Politics and Representation at the University of British Columbia. After receiving his Ph.D. at Harvard University (1978), he has taught at several U.S. universities, most recently, the University of Illinois, and has been a research associate at the Brookings Institution. A citizen and lifelong resident of the U.S. until he joined the UBC faculty in 2004, he has written on a wide range of topics in American politics, including Congress, the presidency, presidential elections, public opinion, regulatory politics, and public policymaking. He has published in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, and the Journal of Politics, and served on the editorial boards of several major journals. His books are Industry Influence in Federal Regulatory Agencies (Princeton University Press, 1981), The Politics of Deregulation (Brookings Institution, 1985), and Deliberative Choices: Debating Public Policy in Congress (University of Chicago Press, forthcoming). He is coeditor of The Legislative Branch (Oxford University Press, 2005). His awards include the Louis Brownlow Book Award of the National Academy of Public Administration and the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Achievement Award of the Public Policy Section of the American Political Science Association. Professor Quirk is active in the U.S. Studies Program at UBC and is currently chair of the U.S. politics area committee in the graduate program.

Media

Rep. Lee Hamilton (co-chair of the Iraq Study Group; vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission) has reviewed Mucciaroni and Quirk’s Deliberative Choices: Debating Public Policy in Congress (2006) for the Indiana University American Democracy Project. “Congressional debates need facts, not spin”

Selected Publications

Paul J. Quirk, “Character, Leadership, and Presidential Success,” in Richard J. Ellis and Michael Nelson, eds., Debating the Presidency:  Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive, 5^th ed. Sage/CQ press (forthcoming 2019), Ch. 7.

Paul J. Quirk, ed., The United States and Canada:  How Two Democracies Differ, and Why It Matters.  Oxford University Press (forthcoming 2019).

Jonathan Malloy and Paul J. Quirk “Executive Leadership and the Legislative Process,” in Paul J. Quirk, ed., The United States and Canada:  How Two Democracies Differ, and Why It Matters (Oxford University Press, in press, forthcoming summer 2019), Ch. 4

Eric Merkley, Fred Cutler, Benjamin Nyblade, and Paul Quirk, “Having their Say:  Authority, Voice, and Satisfaction with Democracy,” Journal of Politics (2019).

Gyung-Ho Jeong and Paul J. Quirk, “Division at the Water’s Edge: The Polarization of Foreign Policy,” American Politics Research (2018)

Paul Quirk, William Bendix, and André Bächtiger, “Institutional Deliberation,” in André Bächtiger, John S. Dryzek, Jane Mansbridge, and Mark E. Warren, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Deliberative Democracy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018), Ch. 17.

“Presidential Competence,” in Michael Nelson, ed., The Presidency and the Political System, 11^th ed., (Washington, D.C.:  Sage Publishers/CQ Press 2018) (revised and updated).

Paul J. Quirk, “The Presidency:  Trump and the Question of Fitness,” in Michael Nelson, ed., The Elections of 2016, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2017) Ch. 8.

William Bendix and Paul J. Quirk,  “Deliberating Surveillance Policy: Congress, the FBI, and the Abuse of National Security Letters”  in William Bendix and Paul J. Quirk, Governing the Security State.  A special issue of The Journal of Policy History.  Summer 2016.

William Bendix and Paul J. Quirk, “Secrecy and Negligence:  How Congress Lost Control of Domestic Surveillance,” Issues in Governance Studies, No. 68, March 2015, Brookings Institution.

Paul J. Quirk, “Making It Up on Volume:  Are Larger Groups Really Smarter?  Critical Review 26:1-2 (2014), 29-49.

“Polarized Populism: Masses, Elites, and Ideological Conflict,” in Raymond J. La Raja, ed. New Directions in American Politics.  New York:  Routledge, 2013, Ch. 9

Paul J. Quirk and Bruce Nesmith, “Reality-Based Policymaking:  Information, Advice, and Presidential Success.” In Michael Nelson and Russell L. Riley, Governing at Home:  The White House and Domestic Policymaking.  Lawrence:  University of Kansas Press, 2011, Ch. 8.

Paul J. Quirk and Bill Bendix, “Deliberation in Congress.”  In Eric Schickler and Frances E. Lee, The Handbook of the American Congress.  New York:  Oxford University Press, 2011, Ch. 24.

Paul J. Quirk, “The Trouble with Experts,” Critical Review, 22(4): 449–465.   Symposium on Philip E. Tetlock, Expert Political Judgment.  2010

Quirk, Paul J. (2009) “Politicians Do Pander: Mass Opinion, Polarization, and Law Making,” The Forum: Vol. 7 : Issue. 4,Article 10.

“Who Wants Presidential Supremacy? Findings from the Institutions of American Democracy Project,” Presidential Studies Quarterly, 37:3 (September 2007), 515-530.  With Joel D. Aberbach and Joel Mark A. Peterson.

“Same Facts, Different Interpretations: Partisan Motivation and Opinion on Iraq,” Journal of Politics, 69:4 (November 2007), 957-974.  With Brian J. Gaines, James H. Kuklinski, Buddy Peyton and Jay Verkuilen.

Gaines, Brian J., James A. Kuklinski and Paul J. Quirk. “The Logic of the Survey Experiment Reexamined,” Political Analysis. 15.1 (2007): 1 – 20.

Mucciaroni, Gary, and Paul J. Quirk. Deliberative Choices:  Debating Public Policy in Congress. University of Chicago Press. Chicago, IL. 2006.

Quirk, Paul J. and Sarah Binder (Editors). The Legislative Branch: Institutions and Performance. Oxford University Press. New York. 2005.

Kuklinski, James A., Quirk, Paul. ‘Conceptual Foundations of Citizen Competence’. Political Behavior. 23. (2002). pp. 285 – 311.

Jerit, Jennifer, Kuklinski, James A., Rich, Robert, Quirk, Paul. ‘The Political Environment and Citizen Competence’. American Journal of Political Science. 45.2. (April 2001). pp. 410 – 424.

Jerit, Jennifer, Kuklinski, James A., Quirk, Paul, Rich, Robert, Schwieder, David. ‘Misinformation and the Currency of Democratic Citizenship’. Journal of Politics. 62.3. (August 2000). pp. 790 – 816.

Kuklinski, James H., Quirk, Paul. ‘Reconsidering the Rational Public: Cognition, Heuristics, and Mass Opinion’. Editors: Lupia, Arthur, McCubbins, Mathew, Popkin, Samuel. Elements of Reason. 153 – 182. Cambridge University Press. 2000.

Quirk, Paul. ‘Coping with the Politics of Scandal’. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 28.4. (Fall 1998). pp. 898 – 903.

Hinchliffe, Joseph and Paul Quirk, “The Rising Hegemony of Mass Opinion,” The Journal of Policy History. 10.1. (1998). pp. 19 – 50.

Quirk, Paul. ‘Coping with the Politics of Scandal’. Presidential Studies Quarterly. 28.4. (Fall 1998). pp. 898 – 903.

Quirk, Paul J.  “Deregulation and the Politics of Ideas in Congress,”  In Jane Mansbridge, ed.. Beyond Self-Interest. University of Chicago Press (1990).

Derthick, Martha and Paul J. Quirk, The Politics of Deregulation. Brookings Institution. Washington D.C.. 1985.

Quirk, Paul J. Industry Influence in Federal Regulatory Agencies. Princeton University Press. Princeton N.J.. 1981.