Peter C. Ordeshook is interested in political economy, the election process, international relations, and applications of game theory to politics. He has published extensively on the subjects, his work appearing in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, the Journal of Economic Theory, and Post-Soviet Affairs. He has authored, co-authored, and edited several books, including Game Theory and Political Theory: An Introduction (Cambridge University Press, 1986), The Balance of Power: Stability in International Systems (Cambridge University Press, 1989), Designing Federalism (Cambridge University Press, 2004), and The Forensics of Election Fraud: Russia and Ukraine (Cambridge University Press, 2009). His latest manuscript in progress is tentatively titled, "Acquiring Antiques: The Comparative Development of the US Economy in the 18th and 19th Centuries as Reflected in the Things People Collect Today."

Ordeshook holds a PhD in political science from the University of Rochester and a BS from MIT in economics, politics, and engineering. Before coming to Caltech in 1987, he held faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon University (1968–1982) and the University of Texas at Austin (1982–1987), where he served as the Frank C. Erwin Jr. Centennial Chair in Government. He was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University from 1975 to 1976, and he was the president of the Public Choice Society from 1986 to 1988. Ordeshook is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.