Marc Hetherington, Raymond H. Dawson Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will deliver the 2022 American Ideals Lecture. Hetherington studies the American electorate, with a particular focus on the polarization of public opinion. He will discuss his research on how American public opinion and polarization has been shaped by COVID-19 and how our COVID-19 response has been shaped by political dynamics.

Hetherington is the author of a number of books, including Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism; Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics; Why Washington Won’t Work: Polarization, Political Trust and the Governing Crisis; and Prius or Pickup: How the Answers to Four Simple Questions Explain America’s Great Divide. He has also published a range of articles in scholarly journals and won several awards for his teaching.