@AmericanU Assistant Professor in Government, @UCLA PhD, @FulbrightPrgrm scholar
Washington, DC
Joined June 2015
- Tweets215
- Following334
- Followers322
- Likes892
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
With general elections less competitive than ever, primaries decide who controls Congress. But only ~20% of voters show up.
New analysis from American University professor @Jferrer505 on primary rules and state voter files since 2000 reveals how unrepresentative primary voters really are today:
📊 Primary Voters vs. Eligible Population:
• Avg Age: 61 vs. 48
• Unaffiliated Voters: 10% vs. 34%
• Non-White Voters: 15% vs. 26%
Read the full analysis: uniteamerica.org/articles/op…
My latest report on 2026 primary turnout is live from @BPC_Bipartisan! We're on track for the highest primary voter turnout in at least 16 years--though that still means only 1 in 5 eligible voters are participating bipartisanpolicy.org/article…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
🧵NEW 2026 midterm primary turnout data through July 21 out today from @BPC_Bipartisan & @Jferrer505:
-state-by-state turnout back to 2010 🇺🇸
-national and two-party turnout 📈📉
-top-5 highest & lowest turnout states
bipartisanpolicy.org/article…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
#SPAintheMedia Turnover among local election officials hit record highs in 2024: 41% were new to the political scene, the most in 25+ years, raising challenges for election administration. Read more from SPA's Asst. Prof. Joshua Ferrer's study here bit.ly/3VueQ3O, here: n.pr/47TcLpD, and here: cbsn.ws/3HzGSYH. @Jferrer505
My latest research at the @BPC_Bipartisan with @danmthomp, @RachelOrey. Election officials across the country have been turning over at much higher rates in the past few years. This is a combo of a long-term trend of increasing turnover rates, and recent out-of trend surge.
NEW: Turnover among chief local election officials continued to climb following the presidential election, reaching 41% in 2024—up from 39% in 2022.
🧵New analysis by @RachelOrey, @Jferrer505, and @danmthomp explores how turnover trends evolved through 2024.
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
From the latest issue of the QJPS, “To Elect or Appoint? Evidence from Local Election Administration” by @Jferrer505. A thread.
New blog post with @BPC_Bipartisan looking into the high election workloads and the potential benefits of election consolidation. Election officals admister over 2 elections a year on average, and some manage many more!
bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/wh…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
NEW -
The Global Legislators Database: Characteristics of National Legislators in the World’s Democracies - cup.org/4hZcjYE
- Nicholas Carnes, @Jferrer505, @mgoldenProf, @EsmeLillywhite, @NoamLupu & Eugenia Nazrullaeva
#OpenAccess
ALT BJPolS abstract describing the Global Legislators Database, which includes demographic and biographical data on legislators from nearly 100 parliamentary democracies worldwide.
Super excited to share that I'll be joining American University as an Assistant Professor in Government this Fall! A huge thanks to everyone at @polisciucla for helping me through my PhD, especially to @danmthomp for being the best mentor and colleague one could possibly ask for
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
#OpenAccess from @PSRMjournal -
Beyond the Trump Presidency: The Racial Underpinnings of White Americans’ Anti-Democratic Beliefs - cup.org/42GG6B8
- @Jferrer505 & Christopher Palmisano (both @UCLA)
#FirstView
ALT Logo of JREP with the hashtag OpenAccess, set against a gray background dotted with red circles of various sizes.
I gave a radio interview to ABC Australia about my forthcoming co-authored @BJPolS article on the Global Legislator Dataset, studying the characteristics of MPs around the world abc.net.au/listen/programs/s…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
🧵NEW @BPC_Bipartisan: @Jferrer505, @JDRackey and I examine the impact of primary formats on turnout &demographic makeup of the electorate. We find:
-More open primary types boost turnout.
-More open primary types lead to more representative electorates. bipartisanpolicy.org/report/…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
Do locally elected administrative clerks use their position to advantage their own parties in elections? Using a novel dataset @Jferrer505, @GeynIgor, & @danmthomp find that clerks oversee similar election results, turnout, & policies.
#APSRNewIssue
ow.ly/qoVv50Rpta0
Excited to share the release of my new report joint with @BPC_Bipartisan, @danmthomp, and @RachelOrey!
We examine turnover among election officials since 2000 and outline recommendations to remedy the chronic and emerging roots of turnover.
bipartisanpolicy.org/report/…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
Do locally elected administrative clerks use their position to advantage their own parties in elections? Using a novel dataset @Jferrer505, @GeynIgor, & @danmthomp find that clerks oversee similar election results, turnout, & policies.
#APSRFirstView
ow.ly/Bt9V50Q68ok
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
Partisanship in electoral system reform is well-understood, but @joshuaferr argues that the factors affecting partisan manipulation of other democratic ‘rules of the game’ has received little attention.
@Jferrer505
@FulbrightNZ
@polisciucla
@otago
tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
ICYMI: @Redistrict cites @Jferrer505 and my recent report for @BPC_Bipartisan on 2022 primary turnout. cookpolitical.com/analysis/h…
Joshua Ferrer retweeted
New @BPC_Bipartisan report finds that 21.3% of eligible voters cast ballots in 2022 primaries, up from 19.9% in 2018 and historic low of 14.3% in 2014.
But, still means small groups of hardcore partisans are electing vast majority of members of Congress. bipartisanpolicy.org/report/…
Diving into my new report from @BPC_Bipartisan and @ThorningMichael, we find that about 21% of voters participated in last year's primaries--higher than in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 cycles but still really low!
bipartisanpolicy.org/downloa…
Consolidating primary dates can also help. States that hold their election at the same time as another state in the same geographic region see 1.5 percentage points higher turnout
