Michael Hoffman

Biography

Michael Hoffman is a comparativist who specializes in religion and politics, primarily in the Middle East. His first book, Faith in Numbers: Religion, Sectarianism, and Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2021) examines the relationship between communal religious practice and attitudes towards democracy. It is based on his doctoral dissertation, which won the Aaron Wildavsky Award for the best dissertation written on religion and politics from the American Political Science Association. Most of Prof. Hoffman's work examines public opinion and political behavior. He has conducted original surveys in Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Algeria, Indonesia, and the United States.

Prof. Hoffman is a faculty fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Initiative on ace and Resilience, the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, the Pulte Institute for Global Development, and the Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values.

His work has been published in Journal of Politics, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Behavior, Democratization, Middle East Law and Governance, and elsewhere. He has been the recipient of a fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Hoffman is a proud Notre Dame alumnus, and received his Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University.

On leave Spring 2026