Associate Professor

About

Biography

Matthew P. Hitt (Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2014) is a CSU alumnus (B.A. 2007). He studies judgment and decision making in American politics, primarily in elite institutions. He is interested in how institutional and external factors influence the choices political actors make, especially at the collective level, in Congress, the judiciary, and the media. He approaches these questions using observational, experimental, and archival techniques. He teaches courses such as judicial politics, legislative politics, American politics & government, and quantitative methodology. Methodologically, Hitt’s research interests include time series analysis, causal inference, event history analysis, game theory, and network analysis.

Hitt's research, funded in part by the National Science Foundation, has appeared or is forthcoming in the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Energy Policy, International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Journal of Communication, Law & Society Review, Political Communication, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Public Opinion Quarterly, Scientific Reports, and Studies in American Political Development. His book, Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court is available from the University of Michigan Press. He has also co-authored two books, Time Series Analysis for the Social Sciences, and Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers can Slow Polarization, both published by Cambridge University Press. Hitt's doctoral dissertation was awarded the 2015 Edward S. Corwin prize for best dissertation in public law by the American Political Science Association.

Publications

Books

Darr, Joshua P.,  Matthew P. Hitt, and Johanna L. Dunaway. 2021. Home Style Opinion: How Local Newspapers Can Slow Polarization. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hitt, Matthew P. 2019. Inconsistency and Indecision in the United States Supreme Court . Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., John R. Freeman, Matthew P. Hitt, and Jon C. Pevehouse. 2014. Time Series Analysis for the Social Sciences . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Refereed Articles

Davis, Nicholas T. and Matthew P. Hitt. “Diffuse Support, Partisanship, and the Electoral Relevance of the Supreme Court.”                                      Forthcoming, Journal of Law and Courts.

Fitz, Erin B., Dominik A. Stecula, Matthew P. Hitt, and Kyle L. Saunders. 2024.
“Objective Numeracy Exacerbates Framing Effects From Decision-Making Under
Political Risk.” Scientific Reports 14: 10473.

Hitt, Matthew P., Kyle L. Saunders,  and Kevin M. Scott.  2019.  “Justice Speaks,  But Who’s Listening? Mass Public Awareness of U.S. Supreme Court Cases.” Journal of Law and Courts 7(1): 29-52.

Budizak, Jeffrey, Matthew P. Hitt, and Daniel Lempert. 2019. “Determinants of Writing Style on the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals.” Journal of Law and Courts 7(1): 1-28.

Darr, Joshua P., Matthew P. Hitt, and Johanna L. Dunaway. 2018. “Newspaper Closures Polarize Voting Behavior.” Journal of Communication 68(6): 1007-1028.

—Winner of the 2019 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Lynda Lee Kaid Best Published Article in Political Communication Award

Hitt, Matthew P. and Kathleen Searles. 2018. “Media Coverage and Public Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court.” Political Communication 35(4): 566-586.

Srinivas Parinandi and Matthew P. Hitt. 2018. “How Politics Influences the Energy Pricing Decisions of Elected Public Utilities Commissioners.” Energy Policy 118: 77-87.

Hitt, Matthew P., Craig Volden, and Alan E. Wiseman. 2017. “Spatial Models of Legislative Effectiveness.” American Journal of Political Science 61(3): 575-590.

Davis, Nicholas T. and Matthew P. Hitt. 2017. “Winning, Losing, and the Dynamics of External Political Efficacy.” International Journal of Public Opinion Research 29(4): 676-689.

Merola, Vittorio and Matthew P. Hitt.  2016.  “Numeracy and the Persuasive Effect of Policy Information and Party Cues.” Public Opinion Quarterly 80(2): 554-562.

Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., Charles P. Campisano, Matthew P. Hitt, and Kevin M. Scott. 2016. “Advising, Consenting, Delaying, and Expediting: Senator Influences on Presidential Appointments.” Studies in American Political Development 30(1): 19-37.

Hitt, Matthew P. 2016. “Measuring Precedent in a Judicial Hierarchy.” Law & Society Review 50(1): 57-81.

Box-Steffensmeier, Janet M., Dino P. Christenson, and Matthew P. Hitt. 2013. “Quality Over Quantity: Amici Influence and Judicial Decision Making.” American Political Science Review 107(3): 446-460.

Hitt, Matthew P. 2013. “Presidential Success in Supreme Court Appointments: Informational Effects and Institutional Constraints.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 43(4): 792-813.

Courses

  • American Government & Politics

    Syllabus