Glen Krutz

GLEN S. KRUTZ is Professor of Political Science at the University of Colorado, Boulder. His scholarship explores how policy agendas are set and the capability, evolution and performance of democratic institutions in representation and policymaking. A recent theme is how individual engagement and leadership affects institutional innovation or decline. His areas of policy focus include the environment, health care, higher education, Native American affairs, and US foreign policy. He has been a frequent participant in cross-disciplinary environmental projects, including the NSF Central-Arizona Phoenix LTER project and NSF Oklahoma EPSCoR.

His published books include Hitching a Ride: Omnibus Legislating in the U.S. Congress (Ohio State University Press) and Treaty Politics and the Rise of Executive Agreements: International Commitments in a System of Shared Powers (with Jeff Peake, University of Michigan Press). He was convenor of the 2008 “Policy Shootout” on the future of public policy theory, a gathering of top scholars, later co-editing (with Warren Eller) the resulting and widely read special issue of Policy Studies Journal. Glen also developed the popular open-source textbook American Government for OpenStax (Rice University), now under revision for a 4th edition.

He has also published articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Electoral Studies, Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Social Science Quarterly, American Politics Research, Party Politics, Presidential Studies Quarterly, Public Administration Review, and Policy Studies Journal.

He has won research awards from the American Political Science Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, and the APSA Legislative Studies Section. Krutz held the Puterbaugh Foundation Endowed Chair at Oklahoma State University and was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Nevada, Reno.

A political practitioner before finding the professoriate, and an award-winning teacher, Krutz has developed cohort experiential learning opportunities for students throughout his career, beginning with the “ASU-in-Washington” program and then state and local programs through the Carl Albert Congressional Research & Studies Center at OU. At CU Boulder, together with Associate Vice Chancellor for Local Government and Community Relations Lori Call, he developed the “CU in the City: Community Scholars” program, which runs each fallsemester. With Associate Vice Chancellor for State Relations Kirsten Schuchman he started the “CU in Colorado State Government: Capitol Scholars” Program in spring 2025.

Krutz received BA (1990) and MPA (1993) degrees from the University of Nevada, Reno and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University (1999), where he worked on the NSF Policy Agendas Project. He previously was on the Political Science faculty at Arizona State University, The University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University. Glen served as a full-time university leader for more than a decade, as Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives then Senior Vice Provost at The University of Oklahoma (2013-19) and as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Oklahoma State University (2019-22) and CU Boulder (2022-24).