About the Professor

Deborah Lynn Guber
Associate Professor of Political Science

A.B., Smith College (1990)
M.A., M.Phil., Yale University (1992)
Ph.D., Yale University (1996)
Biographical Information


Professor Guber’s teaching and research interests include U.S. national elections and electoral behavior, public opinion, and environmental politics. Her work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Public Opinion Quarterly, American Behavioral Scientist, Social Science Quarterly, Society & Natural Resources, and the Journal of Policy History. Her book, The Grassroots of a Green Revolution: Polling America on the Environment was published by The MIT Press in 2003. 

Her current research focuses on the politics of climate change, and the impact of partisan polarization, in particular, in blocking effective action. In one recent article, published in the journal Environmental Politics (2021), she and her colleagues use quantitative text analysis on a corpus of floor speeches published in the Congressional Record between 1996 and 2015 to explore the language used by Democratic and Republican party members. In another, she uses data drawn from Google Trends as an alternative to conventional measures of issue salience in polls to see whether internet search queries related to climate change increase in volume during (and after) extreme weather events—such as hurricanes, floods, heat waves, and droughts—and use those results to explore implications for climate policy and communication.

Click here to view Professor Guber's complete curriculum vitae.

Contact Information

Dr. Deborah Lynn Guber
Associate Professor of Political Science
The University of Vermont
Old Mill, Room 532
94 University Place
Burlington, VT 05405-0114

Phone: (802) 656-4062
Fax: (802) 656-0758
E-mail: Deborah.Guber@uvm.edu
Internet:  http://www.uvm.edu/~dguber

Office Location: 519 Old Mill
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00-2:30 PM, and by appointment on on Microsoft Teams

Teaching Schedule Fall 2021:

POLS 21B, "The American Political System"
POLS 125, "Political Parties and Elections"

"Fans of green politics and those interested in public opinion and the rational behavior of consumers should read this book... [I]t provides not only an important analysis of its subject, but it is also an excellent work on public opinion more broadly...."

Robert Y. Shapiro
Columbia University
Perspectives on Politics, March 2004

"...Guber offers an important contribution to our understanding of environmental attitudes across a range of settings. The book should be read by every student in the field."

Eric R.A.N. Smith
University of California, Santa Barbara
Political Science Quarterly, Winter 2003-2004

"...Guber neatly unpacks the volumious data on the attitudes and behaviors of Americans regarding the environment, while simultaneously establishing a coherent explanation of the impact public opinion has had on the positions of political parties and elected officials in the United States.... [She] has made a significant contribution to the literature in the fields of environmental studies and policy...."

Christopher P. Borick
Muhlenberg College
Society and Natural Resources, vol. 17, 2004

"This book would make a welcome addition to courses at the advanced undergradudate and graduate levels, including courses on environmental issues, public opinion, social attitudes, social movements and even social research methods. The ease with which she explains complicated statistical analysis, her deft use of secondary survey data, and her collection and analysis of ballot initiative data make this a very useful book for a research methods course. While she necessarily accepts the utility of survey research (it would be difficult to do otherwise in national public opinion research), she provides a wealth of information about the complexities involved in survey research and how the way a question is asked can influence the answer. In sum, this book should appeal to readers in several fields and with many different background, including not only scholars but practitioners and social activists as well."

Angela G. Mertig
Michigan State University
Rural Sociology, June 2004

"The Grassroots of a Green Revolution is an impressive book.  It is well researched, presents important new findings, and is clearly written. Both students of environmental politics and public opinion will find it useful."

Christopher J. Bailey
Kent University
Environmental Politics, Winter 2003

"...Guber's detailed analysis of survey instruments, plus the extensive notes and references (almost one-third of the book) will be useful to anyone seeking answers about what an opinion really means. The book is a good read on an important subject...."

Thad Box
Utah State University
Quarterly Review of Biology, March 2004

"Deborah Lynn Guber's book provides a significant contribution to our understanding of environmental public opinion and its impact in America."

Dorothy M. Daley
The University of Wisconsin, Madison
Political Science, June 2004



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