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Dr. Michael P. McDonald is Associate Professor of Government and Politics in the Department of Public and International Affairs at George Mason University and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.  He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from University of California, San Diego and B.S. in Economics from California Institute of Technology. He held a one-year post-doc fellowship at Harvard University and has previously taught at Vanderbilt University and University of Illinois, Springfield.

His research interests include voting behavior, redistricting, Congress, American political development, and political methodology. His voter turnout research shows that turnout is not declining, the ineligible population is rising. His research on redistricting warns of the uncompetitive nature of elections resulting from redistricting. He is co-author with Micah Altman and Jeff Gill of Numerical Issues in Statistical Computing for the Social Scientist and is co-editor with John Samples of The Marketplace of Democracy: Electoral Competition and American Politics. His research appears in several edited volumes and in scholarly journals including American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Behavior, Political Analysis, State Politics and Policy Quarterly, PS: Political Science and Politics, Social Science Computing Review, The Election Law Journal, and the Georgetown Law Review.

On the practical side of politics, Dr. McDonald has worked for the national exit poll organization, consulted to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, consulted to the Pew Center for the States, served on campaign staff for state legislative campaigns in California and Virginia, has worked for national polling firms, has been an expert witness for election lawsuits in Florida and Washington, and has worked as a redistricting consultant or expert witness in Alaska, Arizona, California, Michigan, and New York.  He has worked as a media consultant to ABC and NBC, and is frequently quoted in the media regarding United States elections. His opinion editorials have appeared in The Washington Post, The Politico, The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, The American Prospect, and Roll Call.