James A. Thurber

James A. Thurber

James A. Thurber (born May 29, 1943) is University Distinguished Professor of Government, Founder (1979), and former director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington, D.C.. Under his direction, CCPS organizes the Campaign Management Institute, the Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute, and the European Public Affairs and Advocacy Institute. He is editor of the journal Congress and the Presidency. He was the principal investigator of a seven-year grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts to the Campaign Management Institute to study campaign conduct and a four-year study of lobbying and ethics from the Committee for Economic Development.

Career

Thurber earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from the University of Oregon and a Ph.D. in political science from Indiana University and was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. He has worked on four reorganization efforts for committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate from 1976 to present. He was Director of the Washington, DC based Human Affairs Research Centers of the Battelle Memorial Institute and served as acting Dean of the School of Government and Public Administration at American University.

Thurber has been on the faculty at American University since 1974 and was honored as the University Scholar/Teacher of the Year in 1996. He was legislative assistant to U.S. Senators Hubert H. Humphrey, Bill Brock, Adlai Stevenson III, and U.S. Representative David Obey. He worked with Senator Barack Obama on ethics and lobbying reforms. His latest publications are Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations (2013, 5th Ed.), Campaigns and Elections, American Style (2013, 4th Ed.) with Candice Nelson. He is the author and editor of numerous books and more than eighty articles on American politics including Obama in Office (2011), Congress and the Internet (2002) with Colton Campbell, The Battle for Congress: Consultants, Candidates, and Voters (2001), Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections (2001) with Candice J. Nelson and David A. Dulio and Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections (2000). He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He received the 2010 APSA Walter Beach Pi Sigma Alpha award for his work combining applied and academic research.

Publications

Thurber has authored and edited several books.

• Rivals for Power: Presidential-Congressional Relations (2013, 5th Ed.)
• Campaigns and Elections, American Style (with Candice Nelson, 2013, 4th Ed.)
• Congress and the Internet (with Colton Campbell, 2002)
• The Battle for Congress: Consultants, Candidates, and Voters (2001)
• Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections (with Candice J. Nelson and David A. Dulio, 2000)
• Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections (2000)
• Remaking Congress: The Politics of Congressional Stability and Change (with Roger Davidson, 1995)
• Divided Democracy: Cooperation and Conflict Between Presidents and Congress (1991)
• Setting Course: A Congressional Management Guide (with Chaleff, Loomis and Serota, 1988)

External links

• James Thurber
• Council on Comparative Studies
• School of Public Affairs
• Appearances on C-SPAN