Jim Henson, PhD

Jim Henson directs the Texas Politics project and teaches in the Department of Government at The University of Texas, where he also received a doctorate. He helped design public interest multimedia for the Benton Foundation in Washington, D.C., in the late 1990s and has written about politics in general-interest and academic publications. He also serves as associate director of the College of Liberal Arts Instructional Technology Services unit at UT, where he has helped produce several award-winning instructional media projects. In 2008, he and Daron Shaw, a fellow UT government professor, established the first statewide, publicly available internet survey of public opinion in Texas using matched random sampling. He lives in Austin, where he also serves as a member of the City of Austin Ethics Review Commission.     

5 takeaways from the new UT/TT Poll

June 12, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

It's only June, but there's virtually no evidence yet that Texas Republicans should be concerned about November. 

The Texas GOP convention was no sideshow

June 10, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

The drama that played out at last weekend's state Republican convention may have seemed trivial, but it illustrates a bigger shift underway in the Texas GOP.

Is Easy Resolution on In-State Tuition a GOP Dream?

May 8, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

As Rick Perry hedges that he could yet again seek a presidential nomination, and the issue of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants continues to arise in GOP primary races, polling results help illustrate the challenges the issue poses for candidates. 

Dewhurst's Fortunes Track Party Changes

April 25, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

David Dewhurst’s predicament — abandoned first by most Republican primary voters and then by one of the bellwethers of the Texas big business establishment — reveals how the Texas GOP has changed since he first became lieutenant governor in 2003.

Leaving Tests Behind

April 17, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

The same voters who responded well to George W. Bush's education policies oppose one of its main components: the standardized tests introduced to make schools more accountable.

Threading the Needle on Education

April 10, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

Education policy is usually a winner for Democratic candidates, but in Texas, things are more nuanced, especially when it comes to education spending. This year's race for governor race is a great example. 

Texans Aim for Self-Defense in Gun Control Debate

April 4, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

To the extent that Wednesday's Fort Hood shooting prompts a renewed discussion of guns in Texas, discussion will almost certainly be dominated by talk of increasing access to guns, not curtailing it. 

Legal Pot in Texas? Snuff the Thought

March 20, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

Only 28 percent of Texans say they are opposed to legalization of marijuana for any reason. Most would OK it for medicinal use, and nearly half would approve it for recreational use. But the state's most conservative voters are not likely to go along.

Does the Tea Party Really Want to Limit Government?

March 13, 2014
By: 
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

It might be tempting to romanticize the Tea Party as something distinct from the Republican Party, but poll data suggests that Tea Party voters would support using government power to enact unquestionably conservative policies.

Poll Findings vs. Election Results

March 6, 2014
By: 
Daron Shaw
Jim Henson, PhD
Joshua Blank, PhD

In several races, Tuesday's election results didn't match the findings of the University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll two weeks earlier. What happened?

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