Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy

Joseph Essig is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. His research interests include political behavior, institutions, and survey experimental methods. His work is connected by a strong substantive interest in preference formation and change. He received his PhD in political science from the University of Rochester in 2025 specializing in American Politics and Political Methodology. His work has appeared in American Politics Research and Presidential Studies Quarterly.

His dissertation research examines the process of opinion change in elite and citizen contexts, from roll call voting to issue framing. His 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.