Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell Elder studies how and when Americans get the resources they need to demand better outcomes from their elected officials. She is particularly interested in processes of mutual influence between institutions and citizens in terms of knowledge, efficacy, and trust. Other ongoing work involves the role of place and social context in political attitudes and the development of experimental survey methods for addressing questions of interest to political scientists. Her current book project investigates the role of single-industry dominance on government performance and citizen trust, with a focus on former coal-mining areas of the eastern United States.
Elder received her PhD in political science from the University of California–Berkeley and her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.
