Alex Keyssar

Matthew W. Stirling, Jr., Professor of History and Social Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
Office Address
Taubman-418
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 103
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-495-1042
Fax: 617-496-9053
Email: alex_keyssar@harvard.edu
Assistant
Kathleen Schnaidt (617-496-3885)
Alex Keyssar

Profile

Alexander Keyssar is the Matthew W. Stirling Jr. Professor of History and Social Policy. An historian by training, he has specialized in the excavation of issues that have contemporary policy implications. His 1986 book, Out of Work: The First Century of Unemployment in Massachusetts, was awarded three scholarly prizes. His book, The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States (2000), was named the best book in U.S. history by both the American Historical Association and the Historical Society; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Award. A significantly revised and updated edition of The Right to Vote was published in 2009. Keyssar is coauthor of The Way of the Ship: America's Maritime History Reenvisioned, 1600-2000 (2008). Keyssar is coauthor of Inventing America, a text integrating the history of technology and science into the mainstream of American history, as well as coeditor of a series on Comparative and International Working-Class History. In 2004/5, Keyssar chaired the Social Science Research Council's National Research Commission on Voting and Elections. Keyssar's current research interests include election reform, the history of democracies, and the history of poverty.

Courses

Fall

Spring

  • DPI-703 Understanding Democracy Through History

Media Expertise

Alex Keyssar welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Books
    • Roland, Alex, W. Jeffrey Bolster, and Alexander Keyssar. The Way of the Ship: America's Maritime History Reenvisoned, 1600-2000. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
    • Keyssar, Alexander. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States, Revised Edition. Basic Books, 2009.