His research interests include American politics with a focus on American political institutions (especially U.S. Congress), race and representation, the historical development of institutions and electoral institutions.
Among his publications are American Politics Today (W.W. Norton, 2009, 2nd ed. 2011, with William Bianco), The Dysfunctional Congress?: The Individual Role of an Institutional Dilemma (Westview Press, 1999), and Race, Redistricting and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black-Majority Districts (University of Chicago Press, 1999) for which he was awarded the American Political Science Association’s Richard F. Fenno Prize for the best book on legislative politics. During his career, David Canon received 14 research grants.