
Katherine Cramer
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About Katherine
Cramer studies the way members of the public make sense of public affairs. She is best known for her unique approach to public opinion; in which she invites herself into the conversations of groups of citizens to better understand their interpretations of politics. Most recently; she has been focusing on the way many people in rural Wisconsin use their rural identity to think about current events in that state. She is also Faculty Investigator of the University of Wisconsin Survey Center Badger Poll. Her research interests include public opinion; civic engagement and deliberative democracy. She is a board member of the YWCA Madison; and a commissioner on the City of Madison’s Equal Opportunities Commission.
Contributions
Real Voting Equality
How People Make Sense of Politics
Why Many Americans Resent Public Employees
No Jargon Podcast
In the News
Publications
Uncovers an oft-overlooked piece of the puzzle: rural political consciousness and the resentment of the “liberal elite.”
Investigates how Wisconsinites think about UW-Madison through investigations of conversations regularly occurring among 36 groups sampled from 27 communities statewide. Reveals a pervasive sense of distance from UW-Madison that is part of a broader sense of disconnection from institutions of authority. Implies that positive relationships between UW-Madison and the mass public will require innovative means of listening and relationship building.