Samara Klar

Samara Klar is a Professor of Political Science in the School of Government and Public Policy at The University of Arizona, where she holds the Melody S. Robidoux Fund Professorship and serves as co-Coordinator of the Arizona Policy Lab. She joined the University of Arizona in 2013 as an Assistant Professor, advanced to Associate Professor in 2018, and was promoted to Professor in 2023. Klar earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from Northwestern University in 2013, an M.A. in Political Science from Northwestern in 2009, an M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in 2006, and a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from McGill University in 2005.

Klar's research examines how individuals' personal identities and social surroundings influence political attitudes and behaviors, with a focus on political psychology, voter behavior, and public opinion. She employs experimental methods, surveys, and statistical tools in her work. Her award-winning book, Independent Politics: How American Disdain for Parties Leads to Political Inaction (Cambridge University Press, 2016, co-authored with Yanna Krupnikov), received the American Political Science Association's Philip E. Converse Award, Robert E. Lane Award for Best Book in Political Psychology, and Best Book in Experimental Political Science. She co-authored Partisan Hostility and American Democracy (University of Chicago Press, 2024) with James N. Druckman, Yanna Krupnikov, Matthew Levendusky, and John Barry Ryan. Key publications include "When Common Identities Decrease Trust: An Experimental Study of Partisan Women" (American Journal of Political Science, 2018), "Political Sectarianism in America" (Science, 2020), and "Affective Polarization, Local Contexts, and Public Opinion in America" (Nature Human Behaviour, 2021). Her research appears in top journals such as American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, and Public Opinion Quarterly. Klar has received numerous honors, including the APSA Emerging Scholar Award (2018), Best Paper Published in the American Journal of Political Science (2019), Best Article with Pre-Registration in Journal of Experimental Political Science (2022), and Scholar of the Year from the University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (2025). She founded WomenAlsoKnowStuff.com and has secured grants from the National Science Foundation, Time-sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences, and the Social Science Research Council.

Professional Email: klar@arizona.edu