American Government

About our authors Karen O'Connor is the Jonathan N. Helfat Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Founder and Director Emerita of the Women & Politics Institute at American University. Before coming to American University, Professor O'Connor taught political science for 17 years at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she was the first woman to receive the university's highest teaching award. She has been recognized by several associations as the most outstanding woman in political science and public administration as well as by the Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) for her contributions to the discipline. She has served on the American Political Science Association (APSA) and SPSA councils and as chair of the Law and Courts and Women and Politics Research sections of the APSA.

Larry J. Sabato is the founder and director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. A Rhodes Scholar, Professor Sabato has taught more than tens of thousands of students in his career at Oxford University, Cambridge University and the University of Virginia. At the University of Virginia, he has received every major teaching award, including the university's highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award. In 2013, Professor Sabato won an Emmy award for the documentary Out of Order, which he produced to highlight the dysfunctional U.S. Senate. In 2014, he received a second Emmy award for the PBS documentary based on his New York Times bestseller The Kennedy Half-Century. Professor Sabato directs the Crystal Ball Web site, which has an unparalleled record of accuracy in predicting U.S. elections.