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Office: SSPA 227

Phone: (562) 985-4711

Email: Darin.DeWitt@csulb.edu

I am a professor of political science and co-director of the Long Beach Center for Urban Politics and Policy at California State University, Long Beach. I study how institutions, elites, and ideas shape American politics, with a focus on political leadership, celebrity advocacy, and conspiracy theory politics. My new book, How Lincoln Won: The 1860 Presidential Election and the Origins of the Civil War (with Thomas Schwartz; LSU Press, 2026), focuses on Abraham Lincoln as a political strategist. My projects in development focus on humor and political culture, including “Conservative Camp” (with Nicole Seymour) and “Whit Stillman: Interviews” (for the University Press of Mississippi). Before coming to Long Beach, I earned my Ph.D. in political science from UCLA and my Master of Public Policy from the London School of Economics.

Scholarly Publications

, with Thomas Schwartz. 2026. Baton Rouge: Louisiana University Press. 

“,” with Nicole Seymour. 2025. In The Oxford Handbook of Screen Comedy, eds. William V. Costanzo and Peter C. Kunze. New York: Oxford University Press.

“” with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2025. In Whispers in the Echo Chamber: Folklore and the Role of Conspiracy Theory in Contemporary Society, eds. Jesse A. Fivecoate and Andrea Kitta. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

“.” 2021. Political Studies Review 19(3): 501-510.

“.” 2021. The Journal of Legislative Studies 27(1): 73-92.

“Moral Obligation in an Anarchic World,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2021. The Expanse and Philosophy: So Far Out Into Darkness, ed. Jeffrey Nicholas. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

“” with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2019. Political Studies 67(1): 83-99.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2019. In Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, ed. Joseph E. Uscinski. New York: Oxford University Press.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson and Drew Wegner. 2019.  In Conspiracy Theories and the People Who Believe Them, ed. Joseph E. Uscinski. New York: Oxford University Press. 

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson and Joseph E. Uscinski. 2019. In Handbook of Conspiracy Theory and Contemporary Religion, eds. Asbjørn Dyrendal, David G. Robertson, and Egil Asprem. Leiden: Brill.

“Abraham Lincoln.” 2018. In , ed. Lori Cox Han. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.

“Celebrity Policy Entrepreneurs Expand the Scope of Conflict.” 2018. , eds. Heather E. Yates and Timothy G. Hill. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2017. California Journal of Politics and Policy  9(3). []

“,”  with Alexandra Apolloni and Matthew D. Atkinson. 2017. Ethnomusicology Review 21. 

“Conspiracy Theories in the 2016 Election: Costly Signals or Conventional Wisdom,”  with Matthew D. Atkinson and Joseph E. Uscinski. 2017. In , eds. Christopher J. Galdieri, Tauna S. Sisco, and Jennifer C. Lucas. Baltimore: Lexington Books.   

“ with Matthew D. Atkinson. 2017. PS: Political Science and Politics 50(2): 354-358.

“,” with Thomas Schwartz. 2016. PS: Political Science and Politics 49(4): 805-806.

“,” with Thomas Schwartz. 2016. PS: Political Science and Politics 49(4): 791-796.

“,” with Matthew D. Aktinson. 2016. Celebrity Studies 7(1): 119-121.

“,” with Michael Chwe, Kim Yi Dionne, and Michael Stone. 2015. Urban Affairs Review 51(4): 533-562.

Popular Writing

“.” And Philosophy. May 4, 2022.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. Political Insight. May 17, 2018.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson and Joseph E. Uscinski. London School of Economics United States Politics and Policy Blog. March 13, 2018.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson and Joseph E. Uscinski. London School of Economics United States Politics and Policy Bog. March 5, 2018.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson and Joseph E. Uscinski. Mischiefs of Faction at Vox. May 2, 2017.

“?” with Matthew D. Atkinson. Monkey Cage at The Washington Post. March 7, 2016.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. Monkey Cage at The Washington Post. October 9, 2015.

“,” with Matthew D. Atkinson. Monkey Cage at The Washington Post. September 25, 2015.