Walter Williams

Walter Williams     
Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs
Ph.D., Indiana University, 1960

Areas of Specialization:
Presidential Decisionmaking and Governance, Policy Analysis and the Viability of Democratic Institutions

Walter Williams joined the Evans School as a professor of public affairs in 1970 and now holds the title of professor emeritus. He is a distinguished scholar at the Center for American Politics and Public Policy in the University of Washington’s department of political science.

Williams’ current research focuses on how the presidency of George W. Bush affected the American economy and institutional structures underlying federal governance and representative democracy.  Williams has written several books on American democracy and the development of policy information in presidential decision-making and governing institutions.  Some of his published works include The Politics of Bad Ideas, (2008), Reaganism and the Death of Representative Democracy (2003), Honest Numbers and Democracy (1998), and Mismanaging America (1990).

Before coming to the Evans School, Williams served as a faculty member at Indiana University from 1960-64 and the University of Kentucky from 1964-65. In 1965, he became a policy analyst at the Office of Economic Opportunity where he later served as the head of the Research and Plans Division.

In 1969, Williams became the first recipient of the National Manpower Policy Task Force Scholar-in-Residence grant, which supported his study of the federal social policy analytic offices during Johnson’s presidency and resulted in the book Social Policy Research and Analysis (1971).

At the Evans School, Williams offered courses in policy analysis and program implementation, and taught for several years on the team that provided an American government introductory course.

After leaving the Evans School, Williams served as director of research at the Institute of Public Policy and Management (formerly known as the Institute of Governmental Research) from 1970-83.  He later served as the institute’s associate dean for graduate programs from 1994-97.

Williams has been a frequent contributor to the editorial pages of the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, and the Huffington Post. He also wrote a regular opinion column for The Seattle Times from 1998-99.

Curriculum Vitae (92 KB PDF)