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David A. Hopkins joined the Boston College political science department in 2010. His research and teaching interests include American political parties and elections, the U.S. Congress, voting behavior, public opinion, media and culture, and research methods.

His latest book, Polarized by Degrees: How the Diploma Divide and the Culture War Transformed American Politics (Cambridge University Press), co-authored with Matt Grossmann, investigates the causes and consequences of the American public鈥檚 increasing polarization along the lines of educational attainment. Polarized by Degrees shows that college-educated citizens increasingly favor a Democratic Party that presents itself as intellectually erudite, culturally progressive, a champion of expert-led governance, and comfortable with a changing American society, while whites without a college degree overwhelmingly prefer a Republican Party that stands for traditional cultural values, voices suspicion of scientists, journalists, and the educational system, and laments the decline of American greatness. Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report and PBS has praised the book as 鈥渞eally insightful鈥� while Thomas Edsall of the New York Times calls it 鈥渆ssential reading for everyone trying to figure out what the hell is going on in American politics.鈥�

Professor Hopkins鈥檚 2017 book听Red Fighting Blue: How Geography and Electoral Rules Polarize American Politics听(Cambridge University Press) explains how the rise of the culture war, in combination with winner-take-all elections, has produced a regionally divided electorate and an ideologically polarized party system in the United States; it听was rated "essential鈥� and named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine. His 2016 book听Asymmetric听Politics: Ideological Republicans and Group Interest Democrats听(Oxford University Press), co-authored with Matt Grossmann, demonstrates that each major party has a distinctive character: the Republican Party functions as the agent of an ideological movement and the Democratic Party is organized as a coalition of social groups.听The Economist听called听Asymmetric Politics听鈥渢he best recent book about how the two major parties became what they are,鈥� while Ezra Klein of听Vox听commented that听鈥淣ot many books change how you think about American politics. This one will."听Asymmetric Politics听received the 2018 Leon Epstein Outstanding Book Award from the Political Organizations and Parties section of the American Political Science Association.听

Professor Hopkins听is also the co-author of听Presidential Elections: Strategies and Structures of American Politics听and his research has appeared in听Perspectives on Politics, Polity, and听American Politics Research. Between 2019 and 2024, he served as the co-editor of听The Forum: A Journal of Applied Research in Contemporary Politics.

Professor Hopkins has written about contemporary political issues for news organizations such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and Vox, and he frequently serves as an expert commentator on American politics for international, national, and Boston-area newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and television programs, and podcasts. He blogs regularly about current events at听and can be found on X/Twitter at.