Jeanne Zaino

Jeanne Sheehan Zaino is a professor of Political Science & International Studies at Iona University (NY, USA). A pollster by training, she is also political contributor with Bloomberg News, an affiliated faculty member with the Institute for Thomas Paine Studies (ITPS), a member of the International Advisory Board for South Asia Research, and author of several books and articles, including America Democracy in Crisis: The Case for Rethinking Madisonian Government, Post-January 6, now in its second edition and the forthcoming Sikander Hyat-Khan: Collected Papers of The Premier of United Punjab, 1928-1942.

In addition to her research on the foundations of the American state, the challenges of post-colonial democratization, and democratic deconsolidation, Jeanne has also written extensively about issues ranging from the politics of pre-partition India and electoral litigation to the pedagogical benefits of metaphors and Rawlsian justice. Her work has been published in academic journals as varied as South Asia Research, Campaigns and Elections, Journal of Politics, Journal of Political Science Education, Dispute Resolution Journal, Journal of Sikh and Punjab Studies, Education Week, Journal of Pastoral Counseling, and The Chronicles of Higher Education, among others. Jeanne is co-author of one of the leading texts on computerized data analysis using SPSS and the GSS, currently in its 11th edition, Adventures in Social Research: Data Analysis Using SPSS, co-editor of Socio-Political Risk Management: Assessing and Managing Global Insecurity the IV volume in a ground-breaking series entitled Developments in Managing and Exploiting Risk and Core Concepts in American Government.

For more than two decades, Jeanne has brought the work she does in the academy to broader audiences via the popular media. To that end, she serves as a political contributor on Bloomberg TV and Radio where she appears weekdays on "Balance of Power." She previously served as a contributor with Al Jazeera America (AJAM) and RNN (Regional News Network). In addition, she has appeared on a variety of national and international networks including: Al Jazeera, BBC, CBS, CNN, C-SPAN, Fox Business, Fox News, HLN Headline News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and NTV Russia, among others. Her views on current issues have been published widely in print outlets including the Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, New York Times, Politico, RealClear Politics, USA Today, Wall St. Journal, Washington Post, and Washington Examiner.

A member of the Political Science and International Studies faculty, Jeanne teaches courses in political and social risk, voting, elections, public opinion, political parties, presidency, congress, the courts, civil liberties, constitutional law, media and politics, social statistics, data analysis and research methods, amongst others. During her tenure at the university, she has served as Dean of the School of Arts & Science, Director of the Honors Program, and Chair of the Political Science Department.

Jeanne was a University Scholar at the University of Connecticut in Storrs where she received a Bachelor's (BA) degree in Political Science and Media Studies, as well as a Master's (MPO/MA) degree in Survey/Public Opinion Research from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research (now at Cornell University). She later attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she received a second Master's and a PhD in Political Science with a concentration in American government, Political Theory, and Public Law. Her dissertation entitled “The Paradox Between Commitment and Neglect: Survey Research Utilization: 1992-2000” built on the sociology of knowledge application research to examine how decision-makers use data; and what can be done to bridge the gap between data collection, dissemination, and use in both the public and private sectors.