Zoltan Hajnal

Zoltan Hajnal is a respected scholar of U.S. politics and policy, with a specific focus on how disadvantaged populations are represented in American politics and what can be done to ensure better representation of these groups. His research areas span racial and ethnic politics, urban politics, immigration, and political behavior. 

A professor of political science at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, Hajnal is the author of multiple award-winning books including “White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics” (Princeton 2015), “Why Americans Don’t Join the Party: Race, Immigration, and the Failure of Political Parties to Engage the Electorate” (Princeton 2011), “America’s Uneven Democracy: Race, Turnout, and Representation in City Politics” (Cambridge 2010) and “Changing White Attitudes toward Black Political Leadership” (Cambridge 2006). His research has been featured in The New York Times, the Wall Street, Journal, the Washington Post and a range of other media outlets.

He is actively involved in voting rights litigation and local election law reform. Before joining the faculty at UCSD, Dr. Hajnal was a research fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California and a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Brandeis University.