Professor - Political Management
Fundamentals of Political Management (PMGT 201); International Political Consulting, (PMGT 244); Executive-Legislative Relations (PSC 222); Washington, Power and Influence (PSC 224); Politics and Public Policy (PSC 229)
Dennis W. Johnson (Ph.D., Duke University) is professor of Political Management at the Graduate School of Political Management. From 1995 through 2006, he was Associate Dean of the Graduate School, and from 1993 through 2000, he was director of the master's degree program in Legislative Affairs.
His most recent writings include the Routledge Handbook of Political Management (Routledge, 2008). This reference book brought together forty scholars and practitioners from throughout the world to focus on applied politics, elections and issue management. Dr. Johnson was the editor, and a contributing author, for this volume.
He has created and will serve as general editor of a series of books entitled the Graduate School of Political Management Series on Applied Politics. The first volume of that series covers the 2008 presidential election, and is entitled: 2008 Presidential Election: Strategy, Tactics, New Voices, New Techniques (Routledge, 2009). Senior political consultants with presidential election experience together with election scholars will look at the tactics and strategy employed, the use of new communication tools, and the surge of young voters in this presidential campaign.
In 2009, a major work will be published, The Laws that Shaped America, a book on the fifteen most important laws in American history and how that shaped the American fabric and landscaped.
Another work appearing in 2009 will be Campaigning in the Twenty-first Century (Routledge), which will be co-authored with Gary Nordlinger. This work will explore the various ways that professional campaigns - from the presidency down to local contests - have changed during the past decade.
In 2007, a second edition of his No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants Are Reshaping American Democracy (Routledge) appeared.
In 2004, he wrote Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and Their Representatives (Routledge). This book was the product of the Congress Online Project, a two-year research project (2001-2003) funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Johnson served as principal investigator. Several other writings have emerge from this project: "Communicating with Congress" a chapter in James Thurber and Colton Campbell, eds., Congress and the Internet (2003) and "U.S. Congress Responds to Online Communications Needs" in Journal of Political Marketing, 2:3 (October 2003). Dr. Johnson also has written a quarterly column on CyberDemocracy for the Journal of Political Marketing. He is senior editor of the Journal of Political Marketing and an editor of the Journal of Information Technology and Politics.
He has also written "Campaigning on the Internet," a chapter in Stephen C. Craig, ed., The Electoral Challenge: Theory Meets Practice (CQ Press, 2006); "First Hurdles: The Evolution of the Pre-Primary and Primary Stages of American Presidential Elections," a chapter in Bruce I. Newman and Philip Davies, eds., Winning Elections with Political Marketing (Haworth, 2006); "Perspectives on Political Consulting," Journal of Political Marketing, 1:1 (October 2002), "Elections and Public Polling: Will the Media Get Online Polling Right?" Journal of Psychology and Marketing, 19:12 (November 2002), and "2000 Elections: Perspectives on Closest Presidential Election in U.S. History," a chapter in Bruce I. Newman and Dejan Vercic, eds., Communication of Politics (Haworth, 2003). Further writings include "The CyberSpace Election in Your Future," a chapter in Bruce I. Newman, ed., Political Marketing Handbook (Sage, 1999) and "The Business of Political Consulting," a chapter in James A. Thurber, ed., Campaign Warriors (Brookings, 2000).
He is the editor of The Routledge Handbook on Political Management (Routledge, 2008), a volume that brings together forty-nine scholars and practitioners from throughout the world writing on campaigns and elections worldwide. and is now completing a major book entitled The Laws that Shaped America.
He has presented papers or speeches at the annual British American Studies Conference, University of Leicester (2006); Sixth Annual Political Marketing Conference, Middlesex University, London (September 2003); the GSPM-sponsored conference on elections in Madrid (November 2002); the Eighth International Public Relations Symposium at Lake Bled, Slovenia (July 2001), the Midwest Association of Public Opinion Research, Chicago, Illinois (November 1999), the World Congress of the International Association of Political Consultants (Vienna, 1998 and Milan, 1999), and the European Association of Political Consultants (Palermo, 2001).
Dr. Johnson has guest lectured and participated in seminars at the Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University, England (1997 and 1998), University of Innsbruck, Austria (1999). He has been interviewed by a wide variety of television and newspaper sources, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NBC evening news, British Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, C-SPAN, Public Broadcasting System, MS-NBC, U.S. Information Agency, Voice of America, Middle East Television, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, and AP Television.
Before joining George Washington University, Dr. Johnson was chief of staff to a member of Congress and ran his own candidate and opposition research firm, focusing on Democratic statewide candidates.
