Norman Ornstein

Norman J. Ornstein is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C., a political contributor to the MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour and an election analyst for CBS News. In addition, he is co-director of The People, Press & Politics, a Times Mirror Company Study of the American electorate.

Also, Dr. Orstein is a founder and member of the National Commission on the Public Service, which is chaired by Paul Volker. He serves on the Commission’s board of directors well as on the board of trustees of the U.S. Capitol Historical Society.

Dr. Ornstein, 42, was born in Grand Rapids, Minn., and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota. He earned both his master of arts degree and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

He has been a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar, Fortieth Anniversary Fulbright Distinguished Fellow and a professor of politics at the Catholic University of America.

Dr. Ornstein has worked on Capitol Hill in a number of capacities. Starting in 1969, he was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow, a consultant to the Commission on the Operation of the U.S. Senate and a staff member/director of the Senate Committee to Study the Committee System, which reorganized the Senate.

His books include: The People, Press & Politics; The American Elections of 1982; The New Congress; Interest Groups, Lobbying and Policymaking; and Vital Statistics on Congress. Also, he has written articles and reviews in numerous national and international newspapers and magazines.

Dr. Ornstein was series editor and co-host with Edwin Newman of the award-winning 26-part Congress: We the People, which aired nationally in 1984 and 1985, and is used in college classrooms. Also, he served as political editor for the public television series The Lawmakers. He has appeared frequently on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, ABC’s Nightline, CBS’s Face of the Nation and all three networks’ news programs.

Profiled in a number of publications, Dr. Ornstein has been called “the nation’s hottest pundit” by the Columbia Journalism Review and “an icon of the press” by the National Journal.

He resides in Chevy Chase, Md., with his wife, Judith, and two sons.