Matthew M. Singer

Alan R. Bennett Honors Professor

Political Science

Professor Singer (Duke PhD, 2007) is generally interested in questions of how voters achieve political representation and how the political and social context affects political behavior. His current primary research project studies the political impact of government performance, looking at the impact of economic and political outcomes on support for the incumbent and democracy and also the conditions under which economic performance is more or less salient. A second ongoing project looks at the role of political institutions in shaping the party system that develops, focusing on district-level evidence for Duverger’s hypotheses. Professor Singer is a one of the directors of the Executive Approval Project, which compiles comparable data on presidential and prime minister approval from around the world. He is a collaborator on the Democratic Accountability and Linkages Project, an expert survey on modes of representation (especially programmatic and clientelist linkages) that are used in 88 countries around the world and the Political Representation, Parties and Presidents Survey, a similar expert survey focused on Latin America and Europe. He is a collaborator with the Latin American Public Opinion Project and contributed to the 2012, 2014, and 2017 Reports. In 2015 he was a visiting fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Finally, he is the deputy editor of the Journal of Elections, Public Opinion, and Parties, responsible for content on Latin America. 

Professor Singer’s research has been published in The British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Electoral Studies, The European Journal of Political Research, The Journal of Politics, Latin American Politics and Society, Latin American Research Review, Política y Gobierno, Political Behavior, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Science Research and Methods, and Research and Politics among other outlets. Links to the published works are available below along with any supplemental materials. Together with Elizabeth Zechmeister and Ryan Carlin he published an edited volume on The Latin American Voter (University of Michigan Press).

Professor Singer is the Alan R. Bennett Honors Professor and directs the political science department’s honors program. Please email with any questions.

Articles
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• Carlin, Ryan, Timothy Hellwig, Gregory Love, Cecilia Martinez-Gallardo, and Matthew Singer. Forthcoming. “When does the Public Get It Right? The Information Environment and the Accuracy of Economic Sentiment” Forthcoming in Comparative Political Studies.
• Carlin, Ryan, Timothy Hellwig, Gregory Love, Cecilia Martinez-Gallardo, and Matthew Singer. Forthcoming. “When Growth is not Enough: Inequality, Economic Gains, and Executive Approval” Forthcoming in Political Science Research and Methods.
• Lee, Hoeun and Matthew M. Singer. Forthcoming. “The Partisan Origins of Economic Perceptions in a Weak Party System: Evidence from South Korea.” Forthcoming in Political Behavior. Preprint. Online Appendix.
• Singer, Matthew M.  “Conditional Accountability for the Economy, Insecurity, and Corruption Across Latin American Party Systems.” Latin American Politics and Society. Online Appendix.
• Singer, Matthew and Gabriela Ramalho Tafoya. “Voting Behavior in Latin America.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latin American Politics.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2018. “Delegating Away Democracy: How Good Representation and Policy Successes Can Undermine Democratic Legitimacy.” Comparative Political Studies 51 (November): 1754-88. Online Appendix. Paper previously published by the Kellogg Institute as part of its working paper series #420, with an Online Appendix.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2018. “Personal Economic Struggles and Heterogeneous Government Approval after the Great Recession.” Public Opinion Quarterly 82 (October): 524-52. Online Appendix.
• Carlin, Ryan, Jonathan Hartlyn, Timothy Hellwig, Gregory Love, Cecilia Martinez-Gallardo, and Matthew Singer. 2018. “Public Support for Latin American Presidents: The Cyclical Model in Comparative Perspective” Research and Politics (July-September): 1-8
• Singer, Matthew M. and Zachary Gershman. 2018. “Do Changes in District Magnitude Affect Electoral Fragmentation? Evidence over Time at the District Level.” Electoral Studies 54 (August): 172-181. Online appendix.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2018. “The Meaning, Origin, and Consequences of Populist Politics.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia Online. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2017. “Is the Party System Affected by Booms and Busts? Not Very Much.” Electoral Studies 45 (February): 173-9. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. In Press. “Delegating Away Democracy: How Good Representation and Policy Successes Can Undermine Democratic Legitimacy.” Comparative Political Studies (Forthcoming). Preprint and Supplemental Appendix. Paper previously published by the Kellogg Institute as part of its working paper series #420, with a Supplemental Appendix.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2017. “Is the Party System Affected by Booms and Busts? Not Very Much.” Electoral Studies 45 (February): 173-9. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2016. “Elite Polarization and the Electoral Impact of Left-Right Placements: Evidence from Latin America, 1995-2009.” Latin American Research Review 51 (2): 174-193.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2016. “Informal Sector Work and Evaluations of the Incumbent: The Electoral Effect of Vulnerability on Economic Voting.” Latin American Politics and Society 58 (2): 49-73. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2015. “Does Increasing District Magnitude Increase the Number of Parties? Evidence from Spain, 1982-2011.” Electoral Studies 38 (June): 118-26. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2013. “The Global Economic Crisis and Domestic Political Agendas.” Electoral Studies 32 (2): 404-10. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. and Ryan E. Carlin. 2013. “Context Counts: The Election Cycle, Development, and the Nature of Economic Voting.” The Journal of Politics 75 (3): 730-42. Online Appendix
• Singer, Mathew M. 2013. “Economic Voting in an Era of (Non)Crisis: Economic Voting in Latin America 1982-2010.” Comparative Politics 45 (2): 169-85.
• Singer, Matthew M. 2013. “Should Nervous Workers Make Incumbents Worry about their Own Job Prospects?: Evidence from Developing Countries” The European Journal of Political Research 52 (2): 143-63. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2013 “Was Duverger Correct? Single-Member District Election Outcomes in 53 Countries“ British Journal of Political Science 43 (January): 201-220. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2011. “When do Voters Actually Think “It’s the Economy”? Evidence from the 2008 American Presidential Campaign” Electoral Studies 30 (December): 621-32. Online Appendix
• Carlin, Ryan E. and Matthew M. Singer. 2011. “Support for Polyarchy in the Americas” Comparative Political Studies 44 (November): 1500-26. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2011. ““Who Says “It’s the Economy”? Cross-National and Cross-Individual Variation in the Salience of Economic Performance” Comparative Political Studies 44 (March): 284-312. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2011. “Economic Voting and Welfare Programs: Evidence from the U.S. States” European Journal of Political Research 50 (March): 479-503. Online Appendix
• Singer, Matthew M. 2009. “Defendamos lo que hemos logrado: El voto económico en México durante la elección presidencial del 2006” (Defend what we have achieved: Economic voting in Mexico during the 2006 Presidential Election) Política y Gobierno 15 (Special issue on 2006 Mexican Elections, Fall): 199-236. English version
• Singer, Matthew M. and Laura Stephenson. 2009. “The Political Context and Duverger’s Theory: Evidence at the District Level” Electoral Studies 28 (3): 480-91
• Anderson, Christopher J. and Matthew M. Singer. 2008. “The Sensitive Left and the Impervious Right: Multilevel Models and the Politics of Inequality, Ideology, and Legitimacy in Europe,” Comparative Political Studies (June): 564-99.
• Morrison, Kevin M. and Matthew M. Singer. 2007. “Inequality and Deliberative Development: Revisiting Bolivia’s Experience with the PRSP.” Development Policy Review 25 (November): 721-40.