Mission
Hajnal is a scholar of race, inequality, and representation. He has sought to engage in research that increases knowledge, impacts policy, and ultimately leads to greater representation for those who have been excluded and under-representation. His work is driven by not only by an interest in better understanding inequities in political representation but also by a deep desire to improve American democracy and the lives of the disadvantaged.
Over the course of his career, he has completed a range of studies to try to better comprehend the role that race plays in shaping attitudes, actions, and representation in the American context.
That research ultimately seeks to identify and illustrate concrete solutions that, if implemented, could lead to full inclusion and representation. The final step is to work with the public and practitioners to try to ensure that those concrete steps are implemented and that America democracy becomes broader and more even.
Recognition
Hajnal’s research has generated considerable interest among scholars, journalists, practitioners, and foundations. He is the author of several award-winning books including White Backlash (Choice Outstanding Academic Title; Ralph Bunche Award for Best Book on Ethnic and Cultural Pluralism, APSA; Selected as One of the 12 Best Social Science Publications of the Decade by VOX; Selected for The New York Times Book Review’s “The Year in Reading” 2016; Best New Books in Political Science, New Books Network), Why Americans Don’t Join the Party (Best Book in Racial and Ethnic Politics, APSA), and America’s Uneven Democracy (Best Book in Urban Politics, APSA).
He has published dozens of articles in the top journals in political including publications in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Perspectives on Politics, Daedalus, Public Opinion Quarterly, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Urban Affairs Quarterly, Politics, Groups, and Identities, and Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics. His work has won several awards including the Heinz Eulau Prize (for the best article in Perspectives on Politics), the Lawrence Longley Award (from the Representation and Electoral Systems section of APSA), Best Paper in Urban Politics (from Urban Politics section of APSA), and the runner up for the Heinz Eulau Award (for the best article published in the American Political Science Review). Interest in his research has led to over 4500 citations.
He has written more than a dozen op-eds in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN. Professor Hajnal and his research have been featured in a range of media outlets. These include PBS (the News Hour, the Hidden Brain), Fox News (Alan Colmes), Al Jazeera (Consider This, Inside Story), Public Radio International (To the Point), the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, the Atlantic, the New Republic, CNN, the Los Angeles Times, VOX, FiveThirtyEight, ThinkProgress, San Diego Free Press, The Globe and Mail.
Hajnal has received awards or grants from the American Political Science Association, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University, the Frederick Douglas Institute for African and African American Studies, the Mellon Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Earl Warren Institute for Race, Ethnicity, and Diversity, the Public Policy Institute of California, and the Hellman Foundation.
Impact
Hajnal is actively involved in voting rights litigation and electoral reform.
To raise awareness about inequities in local democracy and to help ensure broader turnout and reduced disparities in representation, Hajnal has undertaken a range of research, public education, and reform activity. His research and public efforts on election timing have led directly to the passage of new state laws mandating consolidated local elections in California, Arizona, and New York. Over a hundred individual cities and counties including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boulder, Austin, and King County have also switched their election timing in part because of Hajnal’s research. All told, these changes have brought more than ten million new voters into local democracy across the country, they have made the vote much more representative of the underlying population, and they have led to representation that better reflects the interests and preferences of the broader public.
He has served as an expert witness on voting rights act cases, presented briefings to House Judiciary committees, written amicus briefs to the Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, collaborated with the Public Policy Institute of California, advised the Aspen Institute and the Social Science Research Council, and consulted for the Canadian government.
His work with More Equitable Democracy on local electoral systems is helping dozens of racial justice organizations around the country to enact local systems reforms that will be fairer and more inclusive.
