<< Back to Faculty John Holbein Associate Professor of Public Policy, Politics, and Education Education & Training PhD, Public Policy, Duke University MA, Public Policy, Duke University BA, Political Science, Brigham Young University 434-243-2899 jh5ak@virginia.edu Garrett Hall 111 Curriculum Vitae (275.52 KB) Areas of focus Domestic Policy & Politics Education Political Science John Holbein is an associate professor of public policy, politics, and education. He studies political participation, political inequality, democratic accountability, political representation, and education policy. His work has been published in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the Journal of Politics, and Nature Human Behavior (to name a few). His research has been supported by two National Science Foundation grants. Holbein's book–Making Young Voters: Converting Civic Attitudes into Civic Action–was published in 2020 by Cambridge University Press. It explores ways to increase perpetually low rates of voter participation among young people. His work has been covered by outlets such as the Washington Post, Vox, New York Magazine, the Boston Globe, NPR, Bloomberg, Politico, Fast Company, Salon, Business Insider, the 74, VoxEu, and FiveThirtyEight, and he has served as an expert witness in voting rights cases in several states. Related Content How gender, race, age and voter ID laws affect whether a voter actually casts a ballot News Young Americans say they are interested in politics, but few of them vote. Writing for The Conversation, Batten School professor John Holbein offers some ideas on how to encourage them. Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Research Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States. 400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Research This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded. Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement News This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement. Are Americans less likely to reply to emails from Black people relative to White people? Research Although previous attempts have been made to measure everyday discrimination against African Americans, these approaches have been constrained by distinct methodological challenges. We present the results from an audit or correspondence study of a large-scale, nationally representative pool of the American public. We provide evidence that in simple day-to-day interactions, such as sending and responding to emails, the public discriminates against Black people. African Americans Are Less Likely to Receive Responses to Emails, Study Finds News New evidence from a team of researchers, including Batten professor John Holbein, suggests that everyday racial discrimination is far more widespread than previous studies have indicated. Mahoney Receives UVA's Public Impact-Focused Research Award News During UVA's annual Research Achievement Awards, Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics and director of SE@UVA, was recognized for her work supporting the rights of displaced people locally, nationally and globally. Batten's John Holbein and Jay Shimshack were also acknowledged for their research contributions. Holbein: U.S. school principals discriminate against Muslims and atheists, our study finds News According to a large‐scale correspondence study conducted by Batten's John Holbein and colleagues, anti-Muslim bias still operates widely nineteen years after the 9/11 attacks. Holbein: Mail-In Balloting Increases Turnout, but Benefits Neither Party News Voting by mail is a safe way to cast a ballot during the current pandemic, and does not benefit either political party, according to Batten's John Holbein. View All
How gender, race, age and voter ID laws affect whether a voter actually casts a ballot News Young Americans say they are interested in politics, but few of them vote. Writing for The Conversation, Batten School professor John Holbein offers some ideas on how to encourage them.
Civilian national service programs can powerfully increase youth voter turnout Research Enrolling young people to participate as Teach For America (TFA) teachers has a large positive effect on rates of voter turnout among those young people who participate. This effect is considerably larger than many previous efforts to increase youth voter turnout. After their 2 years of service, these young adults vote at a rate 5.7 to 8.6 percentage points higher than that of similar nonparticipant counterparts. These results suggest that civilian national service programs targeted at young people show great promise in narrowing the enduring participation gap between younger and older citizens in the United States.
400 million voting records show profound racial and geographic disparities in voter turnout in the United States Research This paper documents the extent and nature of inequities in voter participation in the United States with a level of granularity and precision that previous research has not afforded.
Batten Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching, Service, Research and Engagement News This academic year, Batten School professors won a slew of internal and external recognitions for excellence in teaching, service, research and engagement.
Are Americans less likely to reply to emails from Black people relative to White people? Research Although previous attempts have been made to measure everyday discrimination against African Americans, these approaches have been constrained by distinct methodological challenges. We present the results from an audit or correspondence study of a large-scale, nationally representative pool of the American public. We provide evidence that in simple day-to-day interactions, such as sending and responding to emails, the public discriminates against Black people.
African Americans Are Less Likely to Receive Responses to Emails, Study Finds News New evidence from a team of researchers, including Batten professor John Holbein, suggests that everyday racial discrimination is far more widespread than previous studies have indicated.
Mahoney Receives UVA's Public Impact-Focused Research Award News During UVA's annual Research Achievement Awards, Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics and director of SE@UVA, was recognized for her work supporting the rights of displaced people locally, nationally and globally. Batten's John Holbein and Jay Shimshack were also acknowledged for their research contributions.
Holbein: U.S. school principals discriminate against Muslims and atheists, our study finds News According to a large‐scale correspondence study conducted by Batten's John Holbein and colleagues, anti-Muslim bias still operates widely nineteen years after the 9/11 attacks.
Holbein: Mail-In Balloting Increases Turnout, but Benefits Neither Party News Voting by mail is a safe way to cast a ballot during the current pandemic, and does not benefit either political party, according to Batten's John Holbein.