Joel Rogers

Who is Joel Rogers?

Joel Rogers is an American academic and political activist. Currently a professor of law, political science, public affairs and sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he also directs the Center on Wisconsin Strategy and its projects, including the Center for State Innovation, Mayors Innovation Project, and State Smart Transportation Initiative. Rogers is a contributing editor of The Nation.

Rogers has written widely on American politics and public policy, political theory, labor relations, and economic development and has helped found and run many progressive organizations. In 1997, in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 against his attempt to declare state prohibitions on "fusion" or "plural nomination"—in which a candidate may be nominated by more than one party—unconstitutional. A MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellow, he has been identified by Newsweek as one of 100 Americans most likely to affect U.S. politics and culture in the 21st century. An article in Utne Reader identifies him as a radical centrist thinker and activist.