I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. My research interests include political behavior, institutions, and survey experimental methods, connected by a strong substantive interest in preference formation and change. I received my PhD in political science from the University of Rochester in 2025 specializing in American Politics and Political Methodology. Thus far, my work has appeared in American Politics Research and Presidential Studies Quarterly.

My dissertation research examines the process of opinion change in elite and citizen contexts, from roll call voting to issue framing. My current research agenda centers on public opinion and political psychology, with additional work on the Presidency and bureaucracy. Ongoing projects include experimental work on framing and citizens’ evaluations of the economy; a book project on elite opinion leadership in the era of Donald Trump; and observational studies of Presidential control of the bureaucracy.

A personal goal of mine is to promote communication between the institutional and behavioral  subfields of American Politics, both theoretically and methodologically.   For my publications, dissertation research and other ongoing projects, see my research page here. For information about my teaching experience, click here. For my CV, click here.  You can reach me by email at: joseph_essig[at]brown.edu.
(Google Scholar Profile) 

Education:

• Ph.D, Political Science, University of Rochester (2025)

• M.A., Political Science, University of Rochester (2022)

• B.A., English & Political Science - University of Rhode Island (2015-2019)  Phi Beta Kappa