Political science educator political scientist
Joseph L. Klesner was born on September 27, 1958, in Fort Madison, Iowa, United States. He developed an academic focus on political science, comparative politics, and Latin American politics, with Mexico becoming the central subject of his early research. His scholarly work has examined electoral reform, party competition, political participation, democratic transitions, public opinion, social capital, and the political consequences of corruption.
Klesner attended Central College in Pella, Iowa, from 1977 to 1980, studying economics and political science. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree summa cum laude with senior honors in 1980 and wrote a senior honors thesis on the effect of slavery on Southern economic development. He studied government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia during 1980–1981, concentrating on international politics and theory and international political economy. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied political science, received an S.M. in 1983, and completed a Ph.D. in 1988. His doctoral dissertation, completed in 1987, examined electoral reform in Mexico under authoritarian rule.
Klesner began his academic career as a lecturer in public administration at Northeastern University in 1984–1985. He joined Kenyon College in 1985 as an instructor of political science, became assistant professor in 1988, associate professor in 1992, and professor in 1999. At Kenyon he has taught comparative politics, international relations, Latin American politics, political economy, democracy and development, public opinion, political culture, and international studies. He directed the International Studies Program during several periods between 1988 and 2009 and chaired the Department of Political Science during multiple terms from 1996 to 2010. He served as associate provost from 2010 to 2013, interim provost in 2013–2014, and provost from 2013 to 2020. From 2020 to 2021 he served as senior adviser to the president for strategic planning, helping lead the College’s strategic-planning process. He returned to full-time faculty work in 2022 and directed Kenyon’s Center for the Study of American Democracy from 2022 to 2025. He has also held faculty-governance responsibilities including chair of the Kenyon faculty, chair of the Curricular Policy Committee, chair of the Faculty Lectureships Committee, and coordinator of two presidential searches. During 2005–2006 he served as a Fulbright lecturer in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin. His research has focused especially on Mexican electoral politics, the transition from one-party rule to competitive politics, Latin American political participation, social capital, public opinion, and trust in government.
Authored Comparative Politics: An Introduction, a 2014 McGraw-Hill textbook introducing comparative political analysis and empirical approaches to the study of political systems.
Produced extensive scholarship on Mexican electoral politics, democratization, political participation, public opinion, social capital, political culture, and corruption and trust in Latin America.
Served in major academic leadership roles at Kenyon College, including provost, associate provost, chair of the faculty, department chair, International Studies Program director, and director of the Center for the Study of American Democracy.
Served as a co-principal investigator on National Science Foundation-funded research projects concerning Mexican electoral behavior, campaign effects, political representation, and democratization.
Las desigualdades en la participación política en el México contemporáneo
(Chapter in México: democracia y sociedad; más allá de la ...)
2013The Politics of Presidential Term Limits in Mexico
(Chapter in The Politics of Presidential Term Limits, edit...)
2019Political Reform, Electoral Participation, and the Campaign of 2000
(Chapter in Mexico’s Pivotal Democratic Election: Campaign...)
2004Institutionalizing Mexico’s Democracy
(Chapter in The Changing Structure of Mexico: Political, S...)
2006The Structure of the Mexican Electorate: Social, Attitudinal, and Partisan Bases of Vicente Fox’s Victory
(Chapter in Mexico’s Pivotal Democratic Election: Campaign...)
2004Regionalism in Mexican Electoral Politics
(Chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Mexican Politics, edite...)
2012Legacies of Authoritarianism: Political Attitudes in Mexico and Chile
(Chapter in Citizen Views of Democracy in Latin America, e...)
2001Divided Government in Mexico’s Presidentialist Regime: The 1997–2000 Experience
(Chapter in Divided Government in Comparative Perspective,...)
2001A Sociological Analysis of the 2006 Mexican Elections
(Chapter in Mexico’s Choice: The 2006 Presidential Electio...)
2009Economic Integration and National Identity in Mexico
(Article in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics; also included...)
2006Adiós to the PRI: Changing Voter Turnout in Mexico’s Political Transition
(Article in Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, co-authore...)
2001Corruption and Trust: Theoretical Considerations and Evidence from Mexico
(Article in Comparative Political Studies, co-authored wit...)
2010Who Participates? Determinants of Political Action in Mexico
(Article in Latin American Politics and Society.)
2009Electoral Competition and the New Party System in Mexico
(Article in Latin American Politics and Society.)
2005The 2006 Mexican Elections: Manifestation of a Divided Society?
(Article in PS: Political Science and Politics.)
2007Political Attitudes, Social Capital, and Political Participation: The United States and Mexico Compared
(Article in Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos.)
2003The End of Mexico’s One-Party Regime
(Article in PS: Political Science and Politics.)
2001Democratic Transition? The 1997 Mexican Elections
(Article in PS: Political Science and Politics.)
1997The 1994 Mexican Elections: Manifestation of a Divided Society?
(Article in Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos.)
1995Modernization, Economic Crisis, and Electoral Alignment in Mexico
(Article in Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos.)
1993Social Capital and Political Participation in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Peru
(Article in Latin American Research Review.)
2007Political Change in Mexico: Institutions and Identity
(Article in Latin American Research Review.)
1997Does the Collapse of Single-Party Rule in Central and Eastern Europe Reveal the Path Down Which Mexico is Headed?
(Article in International Studies Review.)
2007An Electoral Route to Democracy? Mexico’s Transition in Comparative Perspective
(Article in Comparative Politics.)
1998The 2009 Mexican Midterm Congressional Elections
(Article in Electoral Studies.)
2010The July 2006 Presidential and Congressional Elections in Mexico
(Article in Electoral Studies.)
2007Presidential and Congressional Elections in Mexico, July 2000
(Article in Electoral Studies.)
2002The Mexican Midterm Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections of 1997: End of the Hegemonic Party System
(Article in Electoral Studies.)
1997Klesner has been associated with the American Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, the International Studies Association, and the Latin American Studies Association. He served on the editorial board of PS: Political Science and Politics from 2003 to 2005 and has participated in professional conference panels, program committees, roundtables, and research meetings in comparative politics and Latin American politics. From 2017 he served on the National Advisory Council of the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
American Political Science Association , United States
Midwest Political Science Association , United States
International Studies Association
Latin American Studies Association
Member of the National Advisory Council at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education , United States
2017 - present
Klesner has been described by Kenyon College colleagues as deliberate, discerning, generous, and intellectually and administratively capable. His institutional work has been associated with careful academic leadership, high standards, and sustained commitment to faculty governance and undergraduate education.
Quotes from others about the person
Kenyon College president Sean Decatur described Klesner as a deliberate and discerning provost with a distinctive combination of academic and administrative ability. Colleagues also praised his wisdom, integrity, high standards, and generosity as a faculty and institutional leader.
Klesner is the son of Darlene and John Klesner. His professional relationships include long-term affiliations with Kenyon College and University College Dublin, as well as research collaborations with political scientists including Stephen D. Morris and Chappell H. Lawson.
