Charles Stewart III
Kenan Sahin (1963) Distinguished Professor of Political Science
Elections; Congress; American politics.
Biography
Charles Stewart III is the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT, where he has taught since 1985, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research and teaching areas include American politics congressional politics, elections, and American political development.
His research about Congress touches on the historical development of committees, origins of partisan polarization, and Senate elections. His books of congressional research include Budget Reform Politics, Electing the Senate (with Wendy J. Schiller), Fighting for the Speakership (with Jeffery A. Jenkins), and Analyzing Congress.
Professor Stewart is an established leader in the analysis of the performance of election systems and the quantitative assessment of election performance. Since 2001, Professor Stewart has been a member of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, a leading research effort that applies scientific analysis to questions about election technology, election administration, and election reform. He is currently the MIT director of the project. Working with the Pew Charitable Trusts, he helped with the development of Pew’s Elections Performance Index. Professor Stewart also provided advice to the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. His research on measuring the performance of elections and polling place operations has been funded by Pew, the Democracy Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation. As part of this research, he was the co-editor (with Barry C. Burden) of The Measure of American Elections.
In 2017, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Democracy Fund, and the Joyce Foundation, Professor Stewart established the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, which applies scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered. In 2020, he partnered with Professor Nate Persily of the Stanford Law School to establish the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.
Professor Stewart has been recognized at MIT for his undergraduate teaching, being named to the second class of MacVicar Fellows in 1994, awarded the Baker Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the recipient of the Class of 1960 Fellowship. From 1992 to 2015, he served as Head of House of McCormick Hall, along with his spouse, Kathryn M. Hess
Research
Fighting for the Speakership explores the development of the formal structure of political parties in Congress through the politics of electing Speakers of the House from 1789 to the present. This joint project with Jeffrey A. Jenkins (Virginia) combines historical narrative with modern analytical theory and statistical methods to explain how the House evolved from a series of ad hoc organizational arrangements to a resilient regime of legislative organization focused on party caucuses.
Senate elections before 1914 is a joint project with Wendy Schiller (Brown) to document and explain the election of U.S. senators before the passage of the 17th amendment. This NSF-funded project involves uncovering data about these elections through the examination of state legislative journals and primary historical sources. The project combines historical narrative with statistical analysis of election dynamics.
Measuring the performance of American elections is a project to assess the quality of elections through the development of metrics that describe how well American states perform all the functions that go into running elections well, ranging from registering voters to counting votes. This project involves collaborations with many scholars and institutions, particularly at Harvard, Caltech, and the Pew Center on the States Election Initiatives program
Recent Publications
Electing the Senate, with Wendy J. Schiller. (Princeton University Press, 2014).
The Measure of American Elections, with Barry C. Burden, eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Fighting for the Speakership, with Jeffrey A. Jenkins. (Princeton University Press, 2012).
Analyzing Congress, W.W. Norton, 2nd edition. (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011)
Committees in the U.S. Congress, with Garrison Nelson. (CQ Press, 2010).
Teaching
| 17.202 | Graduate Seminar in American Politics II (OCW) |
| 17.251 | Introduction to Congressional Politics (OCW) |
| 17.261 | Congress and the American Political System II (OCW) |
| 17.307 | Policy Seminar for Washington Interns |
| 17.871 | Political Science Laboratory (OCW) |
News
Biography
Charles Stewart III is the Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science at MIT, where he has taught since 1985, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research and teaching areas include American politics congressional politics, elections, and American political development.
His research about Congress touches on the historical development of committees, origins of partisan polarization, and Senate elections. His books of congressional research include Budget Reform Politics, Electing the Senate (with Wendy J. Schiller), Fighting for the Speakership (with Jeffery A. Jenkins), and Analyzing Congress.
Professor Stewart is an established leader in the analysis of the performance of election systems and the quantitative assessment of election performance. Since 2001, Professor Stewart has been a member of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project, a leading research effort that applies scientific analysis to questions about election technology, election administration, and election reform. He is currently the MIT director of the project. Working with the Pew Charitable Trusts, he helped with the development of Pew’s Elections Performance Index. Professor Stewart also provided advice to the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. His research on measuring the performance of elections and polling place operations has been funded by Pew, the Democracy Fund, and the Hewlett Foundation. As part of this research, he was the co-editor (with Barry C. Burden) of The Measure of American Elections.
In 2017, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Democracy Fund, and the Joyce Foundation, Professor Stewart established the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, which applies scientific principles to how elections are studied and administered. In 2020, he partnered with Professor Nate Persily of the Stanford Law School to establish the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project.
Professor Stewart has been recognized at MIT for his undergraduate teaching, being named to the second class of MacVicar Fellows in 1994, awarded the Baker Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and the recipient of the Class of 1960 Fellowship. From 1992 to 2015, he served as Head of House of McCormick Hall, along with his spouse, Kathryn M. Hess
Research
Fighting for the Speakership explores the development of the formal structure of political parties in Congress through the politics of electing Speakers of the House from 1789 to the present. This joint project with Jeffrey A. Jenkins (Virginia) combines historical narrative with modern analytical theory and statistical methods to explain how the House evolved from a series of ad hoc organizational arrangements to a resilient regime of legislative organization focused on party caucuses.
Senate elections before 1914 is a joint project with Wendy Schiller (Brown) to document and explain the election of U.S. senators before the passage of the 17th amendment. This NSF-funded project involves uncovering data about these elections through the examination of state legislative journals and primary historical sources. The project combines historical narrative with statistical analysis of election dynamics.
Measuring the performance of American elections is a project to assess the quality of elections through the development of metrics that describe how well American states perform all the functions that go into running elections well, ranging from registering voters to counting votes. This project involves collaborations with many scholars and institutions, particularly at Harvard, Caltech, and the Pew Center on the States Election Initiatives program
Recent Publications
Electing the Senate, with Wendy J. Schiller. (Princeton University Press, 2014).
The Measure of American Elections, with Barry C. Burden, eds. (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Fighting for the Speakership, with Jeffrey A. Jenkins. (Princeton University Press, 2012).
Analyzing Congress, W.W. Norton, 2nd edition. (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011)
Committees in the U.S. Congress, with Garrison Nelson. (CQ Press, 2010).
Teaching
| 17.202 | Graduate Seminar in American Politics II (OCW) |
| 17.251 | Introduction to Congressional Politics (OCW) |
| 17.261 | Congress and the American Political System II (OCW) |
| 17.307 | Policy Seminar for Washington Interns |
| 17.871 | Political Science Laboratory (OCW) |