Maxwell School News and Commentary

"Given how partisan and ideologically extreme most politicians still are, are nonpartisan primaries really enough to save American democracy? While we’re already seeing improvements in the states that have them, the tide won’t fully change until a critical mass of politicians are freed from partisan primaries at the state and national level," writes Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of policy studies and public administration and international affairs.

"Like-minded sources on Facebook are prevalent but not polarizing," co-authored by Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Thorson, was published in Nature. The study is focused on the prevalence and effects of "echo chambers" on social media.

"Electoral Democracy and Working-Age Mortality," co-authored by University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and social science Ph.D. student Kent Cheng, was published in The Milbank Quarterly.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells Newsweek that a crowded primary field benefited Trump in 2016 when the higher number of candidates allowed Trump to win the primary with only about 45 percent of the vote.

While Trump’s “most diehard supporters are always going to be supporters no matter what…some people who are on the margins, part of the 40 percent that voted for him a couple of times, will tend to peel away,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

"DeSantis would most benefit from Trump dropping out of the race but he seems to have calculated that they have many of the same potential voters so doesn't want to alienate them," says Shana Gadarian, professor and chair of political science.

Ying Shi, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, and John G. Singleton of the University of Rochester, investigated what happens when educators are elected to school boards. "Despite raising teachers’ salaries, electing an educator to a school board does not translate into improved outcomes for students and has negative impacts on charter schools."

"Primary elections are where most of those who govern us are chosen. Can making them nonpartisan—or eliminating them altogether—diminish the impact of ideological fringes? What has happened in Louisiana suggests that it can," writes Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs and policy studies.

Trump “is a former president. He is, whether we like it or not, a legitimate candidate for the nomination. So I think it is entirely appropriate to host a town hall,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

The 2020 presidential candidate and former hedge fund manager visited the Maxwell School as part of the inaugural Sustainable Syracuse series.