About

Michael D. Martinez is a Professor of Political Science, specializing in Political Methodology and American Politics, and serves as the Field Chair in American Politics. His broad research interests include the relationships between partisanship, issue preferences, and vote choice, as well as the causes and consequences of voter participation. His work on the socialization and reinforcement of Canadian partisanship has been supported by a grant from the Canadian Embassy and has been published in the Canadian Journal of Political Science and the American Journal of Political Science. Professor Martinez has collaborated with scholars such as Ken Wald on examining the effects of religious attitudes on political attitudes across national boundaries. His current research, often in partnership with Jeff Gill, involves analyzing how variations in voter turnout influence election outcomes through simulations based on multinomial models of candidate choice and abstention. He is also engaged in ongoing projects with Steve Craig focusing on the role of ambivalence in shaping public opinion and voter choice. He has been recognized for his academic contributions through a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Calgary in 1994 and has served as a visiting professor at the University of British Columbia multiple times. Professor Martinez teaches graduate seminars in Conduct of Inquiry and Political Behavior, and has co-authored articles and conference papers with several graduate students. His academic career is marked by a focus on empirical research methods and the dynamics of political behavior.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Mathematics
• Marketing
• Computer Security
• Law
• Statistics
• Sociology
• Engineering
• Business
• Econometrics
• Human–computer interaction
• Environmental resource management
• Physics
• Telecommunications

Selected publications

• From hand holding to free time: how no-excuses charter alumni experience the transition to college

  British Journal of Sociology of Education · 2025-05-09

  article1st author
  PublisherDOI

• Election administration harms and ballot design: A study of Florida's 2018 United States Senate race

  American Journal of Political Science · 2024-10-14 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We introduce a typology of election administration harms and apply it to empirically study the consequences of ballot design. Our typology distinguishes between individual, electoral, and systemic harms. Together, it clarifies why ballot design can be a particular vulnerability in election administration. Using both ballot‐level and precinct‐level data, we revisit Florida's 2018 United States Senate race, in which Broward County's ballot design flouted federal guidelines and, according to critics, was pivotal to the outcome. We estimate that Broward's ballot design induced roughly 25,000 voters to undervote in a race determined by about 10,000 votes and that these excess undervotes were concentrated among low‐information voters. Broward's ballot did not, however, affect the outcome of the election. Nonetheless, flawed ballot designs are still concerning in an age of voter distrust. Given the risk that flawed ballots can cause systemic harm, we offer a roadmap for procedural reforms to improve ballot design.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• An Evaluation of the National Center for Youth Law’s Compassionate Education Program

  2023-06-21

  reportOpen access

  The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (McKinney-Vento Act) provides students who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence with the right to the same free, appropriate, public education that other students receive.Each year, to ensure the law is fully implemented by school districts and states, the U.S.Department of Education (ED) collects demographic and academic data on students eligible for services under the McKinney-Vento Act. 1 This brief examines chronic absenteeism among students who experienced homelessness using data from School Years (SYs) 2016-17 through 2018-19, which are the first three years in which the data were collected.Data available on ED Data Express 2 were aggregated to the state level for this report; an appendix also provides an analysis using school district data that identifies differences in absenteeism based on district locale. 3 Key findings in this brief include the following:• During SY 2018-19, public schools identified 524,389 students experiencing homelessness who were chronically absent and 1,429,110 students experiencing homelessness overall.Thus, 37% of students experiencing homelessness were reported as chronically absent.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Measuring “Who is a Jew?” Why It Matters in Jewish Political Behavior

  Contemporary Jewry · 2022-09-24 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Determined by Mode? Representation and Measurement Effects in a Dual-Mode Statewide Survey

  Journal of Survey Statistics and Methodology · 2021 · 11 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Statistics

  Abstract With the increasing usage of dual-mode data collection, researchers of public opinion have shown considerable interest in understanding response differences across different interview modes. Are mode effects an outcome of representation or measurement differences across modes? We conducted a dual-mode survey (web and telephone) using Florida’s voter file as the sampling frame, randomly assigning registered voters into one mode versus the other. Having a priori information about the respondents allows us to gauge whether and how sample composition differences may be driven by mode effects, and whether mode affects estimated models of political behavior. Survey mode effects are still significant for issue voting even when sampling design is similar for both modes.

  PublisherDOI

• The Different Faces of Public Opinion: Is the American Voter Tinted by Mode?

  International Journal of Public Opinion Research · 2021-02-01 · 3 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract Declining response rates and increasing costs of collecting public opinion survey data have led to an increasing usage of dual-mode surveys. Revisiting foundational theories of political knowledge, issue constraint, and issue voting, we gauge the theoretical implications this methodological change has in our understanding of the public opinion and voter behavior. We see different patterns in the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies and observe clear mode effects in an original dual-mode survey experiment of Florida registered voters. Overall, we find that web respondents appear to be more politically knowledgeable, ideologically constrained, and have greater correspondence between issue and vote preferences compared to face-to-face or phone respondents. Survey mode matters, even with a common sampling frame.

  PublisherDOI

• Doing Work on the Land of Our Ancestors: Reserved Treaty Rights Lands Collaborations in the American Southwest

  Fire · 2021 · 8 citations

  • Political Science
  • Business
  • Sociology

  The intent of this article is to raise awareness about an underutilized funding mechanism that possesses the capacity to help tribal and federal land management agencies meet their goal of restoring fire-adapted ecosystems to historic conditions in the American Southwest. We attempt to achieve this through an exploration of the Reserved Treaty Rights Lands (RTRL) program and how it has been used to implement collaborative fuel management projects on National Forest lands. RTRL is a funding program administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) that is designed to protect natural and cultural resources important to tribes on non-tribal lands that are at high risk from wildfire. Over the last year, our research team has studied the RTRL program in the Southwest by conducting in-depth, face-to-face interviews with tribal land managers as well as U.S. Forest Service tribal liaisons and other personnel who work with tribes. Our interviews revealed enthusiasm and support for RTRL but also concern about the fairness of the program as well as insufficient outreach efforts by the U.S. Forest Service. In response, we propose a policy alteration that (we contend) would incentivize the BIA to increase funding allocations to the RTRL program without losing the support of partnering agencies. The aim is to strengthen and expand shared stewardship efforts between tribes and federal land management agencies. We situate these implications against the backdrop of the Pacheco Canyon Prescribed Burn, an RTRL funded project that was instrumental in containing the Medio Fire that broke out in the Santa Fe National Forest in the summer of 2020.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Replication Data for "Determined by Mode? Representation and Measurement Effects in a Dual Mode Statewide Survey"

  Harvard Dataverse · 2021-02-15

  datasetOpen access

  Replication Data for "Determined by Mode? Representation and Measurement Effects in a Dual Mode Statewide Survey"

  PublisherDOI

• Verifying Voter Registration Records

  American Politics Research · 2020 · 14 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Security

  This study investigates the reliability of Florida’s voter registration files through a phone survey, asking respondents to verify their records. We find 17.7% of registrants fail to verify at least one identifying piece of information. Applying the total survey error (TSE) framework, we classify these errors as due to coverage error, measurement error, or processing error. These inconsistencies create election administration and campaign inefficiencies, which lead to poorer voter experiences, and challenge the validity of some research based on these data. Furthermore, if registration records do not accurately capture the members of protected groups, the data are less helpful in both government monitoring and enforcement. We suggest voter registration forms should be treated like survey questionnaires so as to improve data quality with better form design, and that some vote overreport bias is attributable to limitations of voter file data, not to respondents’ vote misreporting.

  PublisherDOI

• The New Deal and the Implementation of the Welfare State

  2020-05-01

  dissertationOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The modern welfare state affects the lives of millions of people and plays an integral role in maintaining social standards. Rising issues like climate change, wealth inequality and accessible healthcare are often discussed through the lens of welfare, emphasizing the government’s role and responsibility. This paper explores the history and roots of welfare through an analysis of how it came to exist. In addition, through the context of the New Deal, the driving mechanisms of welfare policy are explored and discussed. This paper focuses on several aspects of welfare. First, the history of welfare is discussed to provide insight into its dynamic nature. Second, the mechanisms of welfare implementation are explored within the context of the New Deal. This is done through the analysis of three acts: The Wagner Act, the Social Security Act and the Works Progress Administration Act. Third, the effects of the New Deal on the modern welfare state are explored. And finally, the paper ends by suggesting welfare’s role regarding modern issues.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Stephen C. Craig

  University of Florida

  21 shared

• Jason Gainous

  10 shared

• Rebecca C. Wade

  DKFZ-ZMBH Alliance

  9 shared

• Stefan Richter

  Heidelberg University

  9 shared

• Jonathan C. Fuller

  Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies

  9 shared

• Stefan Henrich

  Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies

  9 shared

• Antonia Stank

  Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies

  9 shared

• James G. Kane

  8 shared

Labs

• Political SciencePI

Education

• Ph.D., Political Science

  University of Michigan

  1985

• MA in Political Science, Political Science

  University of New Orleans

  1980

Awards & honors

• Fulbright Scholar at the University of Calgary (1994)