Nolan McCarty is the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Politics and Public Affairs and Vice Dean for Strategic Initiatives at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He served as the chair of Princeton Politics Department from 2011-2018.

He has written on a variety of topics related U.S. politics and political economy ranging from the causes and consequences of political polarization, economic and politic inequality, regulation, and the political role of business. He has also engaged in the development of statistical methodologies and the application of game theoretic models to political questions.

He has authored or co-authored four books: Political Game Theory (2006, with Adam Meirowitz), Polarized America: The Dance of Ideology and Unequal Riches (2016 second edition with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal),  Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy (2013 with Keith Poole and Howard Rosenthal) and Polarization:  What Everyone Needs to Know (2019).  With Frances Lee, he co-edited Can American Govern Itself? (2019)  In 2010, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He earned his A.B. in Economics from the University of Chicago and his PhD in Political Economy from Carnegie Mellon University.

How are you involved with first-gen students at Princeton?
Until four or five years ago, there wasn’t really any way for me to identify first-generation students or for them to identify me. Then the University set up a series of dinners to get first-gen faculty and students together. These are terrific events, and I attend whenever I can. I really enjoy hearing the students’ stories and sharing mine.