David Magleby

David Magleby is a distinguished professor of political science at Brigham Young University (BYU) and formerly the dean of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at BYU. He is an expert on direct democracy and campaign finance, and has authored several books. His first, Direct Legislation, is considered the seminal work on initiatives and referenda. He is the lead editor of a series on presidential election finance, and has also written several works on issues related to soft money in campaigns. In 1990, he served on a bipartisan Senate task force on campaign finance reform and his book on the subject, The Money Chase, was published by the Brookings Institution. In addition, Magleby authors a best-selling American government textbook, Government by the People.

Prior to joining the faculty of BYU, Magleby was a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of Virginia. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Utah and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. At BYU, Magleby has served as dean, department chair, and founding director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy (CSED). He also established the KBYU/Utah Colleges exit poll. Every election year, the poll mobilizes several hundred college students from Utah college campuses to gather data about Utah voters and elections. BYU students design the survey and sample. On Election Night, Magleby hosts a television program where students present the results of the poll.