Michael X. Delli Carpini, Ph.D.

Michael X. Delli Carpini's research explores the role of the citizen in democratic politics, with particular emphasis on the impact of mass media and information and communication technologies on public opinion, public deliberation, political knowledge, and political participation.

Michael X. Delli Carpini is the Oscar H. Gandy Emeritus Professor of Communication & Democracy at the Annenberg School for Communication. He served as Walter H. Annenberg Dean of the school from 2003 until the end of 2018, and previously had a secondary appointment in the Department of Political Science.

“Michael Delli Carpini has helped to advance and re-orient the study of public opinion and democracy. As a respected and prolific authority on the changing media landscape, he continues to have a profound impact on political communication research.” — the American Political Science Association

Delli Carpini's research explores the role of the citizen in democratic politics, with particular emphasis on the impact of mass media and information and communication technologies on public opinion, public deliberation, political knowledge, and political participation. He is editor of Digital Media and Democratic Futures (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2019), and author of After Broadcast News: Media Regimes, Democracy and the New Information Environment (Cambridge University Press, 2011), Talking Together: Public Deliberation and Political Participation in America (University of Chicago Press, 2009), A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life and the Changing American Citizen (Oxford University Press, 2006), What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters (Yale University Press, 1996), and Stability and Change in American Politics: The Coming of Age of the Generation of the 1960s (New York University Press, 1986), as well as numerous articles, book chapters, and essays. Delli Carpini received the 2008 Best Book Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research (for What Americans Know About Politics and Why It Matters), and the 2008 Murray Edelman Distinguished Career Award from the Political Communication Division of the American Political Science Association. He was elected as a Fellow of the International Communication Association in 2018. In 2019, he was named the inaugural Faculty Director of Penn’s SNF Paideia Program.

Prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania faculty in July of 2003, Delli Carpini was Director of the Public Policy program of the Pew Charitable Trusts (1999-2003), and member of the Political Science Department at Barnard College and graduate faculty of Columbia University (1987-2002), serving as chair of the Barnard department from 1995 to 1999. He began his academic career as an Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department at Rutgers University (1980-1987).