[4] Polsby became interested in public opinion and its influence on elections as Joseph R. McCarthy became more powerful in Washington during the 1940s and early 1950s.
[11] During the 1960s Polsby did extensive field work and examined the "human nature" of Congress and the historical implications of recurrent calls for change on the institution.
His paper "The Institutionalization of the U.S. House of Representatives" (1968) was considered "one of the 20 most influential articles published in the American Political Science Review.
[1][4] In 1997, he was commissioned by the non-partisan Twentieth Century Fund to write The New Federalist Papers: Essays in Defense of the Constitution with Alan Brinkley and Kathleen M.
[1] In addition to his work on American politics, he co-wrote British Government and its Discontents' (1981) with Geoffrey Peter Smith.
[4] Polsby often used humor to make his political writing more accessible and was frequently quoted by reporters.