Karlyn Bowman, a distinguished senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), helped launch AEI’s work on public opinion in the late 1970s. In 1982, she started “Election Watch,” the longest-running political analysis program in Washington. She continues to compile and analyze American public opinion using available polling data on a variety of subjects, including the economy, the presidency, the environment and global warming, and women’s attitudes.

Ms. Bowman is the author of many extensive AEI Public Opinion Studies, including “The exit polls: A history and trends over times, 1972–2020” (AEI, 2022) and “Attitudes about abortion: A comprehensive review of polls from the 1970s to today” (AEI, 2021). In addition, she has studied and spoken about the evolution of American politics because of key demographic and geographic changes. She has often lectured on the role of think tanks in the United States and writes a weekly column for Forbes.com.

In 2020, Karlyn Bowman received the Warren J. Mitofsky Award for Excellence in Public Opinion Research, one of the most prestigious honors in the public opinion field. She was honored for her “contributions to analyzing trends in US public opinion to understand the evolution of American politics and the public’s changing views on some of the most important issues facing the nation.”