Elizabeth Elder

About

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 knowledge, efficacy, trust, and the role of place and social context in political attitudes.

Her book, Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust, 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. The book is forthcoming with the University of Chicago Press.

Elder received her PhD in political science from the University of California–Berkeley and her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University.