David Blyth Magleby (born October 20, 1949)[1] is an American political scientist and distinguished professor of political science at Brigham Young University (BYU) and formerly the dean of the College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences at that institution. He is an expert on direct democracy and campaign finance.
Magleby is the author of several books. His first, Direct Legislation, is considered the seminal work on initiatives and referendums. Along with the other works Magleby has written, he is the lead editor of a series on presidential election finance, including Financing the 2008 Election. He has also written several works on issues related to soft money in campaigns. In 1990, he served on a bipartisan Senatetask force on campaign finance reform and his book on the subject, The Money Chase, was published by the Brookings Institution.[2] In addition, Magleby authors a best-selling American government textbook, Government by the People, which, as of late 2012, was in its 25th edition.
At BYU, Magleby has served as dean, department chair, and founding director of the Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy (CSED). He also established the KBYU/Utah Colleges exit poll. Every election year, the poll mobilizes several hundred college students from Utah college campuses to gather data about Utah voters and elections. BYU students design the survey and sample. On Election Night, Magleby hosts a television program where students present the results of the poll.
^Magleby, David B. "Vita". Faculty. BYU College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences. Archived from the original(.doc) on 2010-06-21. Retrieved 2009-04-16.