John Raymond Zaller (born 1949) is a political scientist and professor specializing in public opinion at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of California, Riverside.
Although he acknowledges the mainstream media's shortcomings, Zaller holds a positive view of "infotainment", arguing that even sensationalist and superficial media coverage of politics serves to inform and does increase awareness of political issues.
Zaller teaches undergraduate classes on electoral politics and the mass media's influence on public opinion in election cycles as well as graduate classes on political behavior and intermediate statistical analysis.
Zaller is a part of the UCLA School of Political Parties, which holds that political parties are created by intense policy demanders, rather than by ambitious politicians.