Amy Lerman is a Professor of Public Policy and Political Science and Co-Director, The People Lab at UC Berkeley. Professor Lerman writes widely on issues related to political engagement, public opinion, and public policy. Her recent work examines the ways that growing economic inequality, persistent racial bias, and the rise of the carceral state influence citizens’ political beliefs, racial identities, and rates of political participation. She is particularly interested in the political attitudes and behavior of the low-income, youth, and racial minorities. Professor Lerman is the author of two books on criminal justice policy, The Modern Prison Paradox (Cambridge University Press) and Arresting Citizenship (The University of Chicago Press). She also writes on American bureaucracy, privatization, and public/private partnerships. Her current book project, The Public Competency Crisis, explores the micro-politics of privatization, assessing the ways that citizens understand and form preferences toward public versus private provision of goods and services. Professor Lerman’s scholarship can be found in a variety of journals, including the American Political Science Review, Perspectives on Politics, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Punishment and Society. She received her PhD in 2008 from the University of California, Berkeley.