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 George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. From 1995 through 2006, he was Associate Dean of the school, and from 1993 through 2000, he was director of the master's degree program in Legislative Affairs. In 2000-2003, he was Principal Investigator of the Congress Online Project, a two-year research project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Several writings have emerged from this project: a book entitled Congress Online: Bridging the Gap Between Citizens and their Representatives (Routledge, 2004); "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 (formerly the Journal of e-Government). He is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Public Affairs.
He has also written No Place for Amateurs: How Political Consultants Are Reshaping American Democracy 2nd Edition (Routledge, 2007); "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).
Dr. Johnson's current research interests include the history of political consulting and international campaign consulting and a major work on the history of public policy entitled The Laws that Shaped America. He is currently editing a book on advanced techniques in political management.
He has presented papers or speeches at the 52nd Annual meeting of the British Association of American Studies (April 2007); the Eccles Centre, British Library (March 2004); the 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).
He is the editor of the Routledge Handbook of Political Management (forthcoming, 2008), a major reference book featuring 40 chapters from scholars and practitioners from throughout the world.
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, Asahi Shimbun, NBC evening news, Canadian Broadcasting System, 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.
