full-time faculty teaching and conducting research in political science
of Maxwell faculty conduct research focused outside of the U.S.
graduate students in residence; fewer than 12 admitted each year
Undergraduate Studies
Graduate Studies
I am Maxwell.
Civic engagement is a core value for me. I have always aspired to help the communities I’m from.” Mazaher Kaila, a Maxwell alumna and third-year student at Syracuse University's College of Law, moved with her family from Sudan to Central New York when she was four years old. “I realized that to make meaningful change in society, I needed to understand the systems that power it—government and politics—and that’s insight I would gain by studying political science.”
Mazaher Kaila ’19, L’22
political science, law
Gadarian Study on the Politicization and Legitimacy of the Supreme Court Cited in Vox Article
May 6, 2022
Vox
The legitimacy of the Supreme Court has been eroded in recent years due to the unprecedented blockade of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, and the increasingly hardline conservative tilt of Court rulings, among other things. Combined, they do significant damage to the idea that the Court is somehow above politics. And Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade, if issued, could be yet another significant blow to Court legitimacy.
A 2019 paper by Shana Gadarian, professor of political science, and Maxwell alum Logan Strother '13 M.A. (PSc)/'17 Ph.D. (PSc) argues that the rise of extreme partisanship has changed the Court’s ability to issue controversial rulings and maintain its legitimacy afterward. In the current climate, they find, “policy disagreement with Supreme Court decisions leads individuals to view that decision, and the Court itself, as being political in nature”—which, they also show, damages the Court’s fundamental legitimacy.
Read more in the Vox article, "What happens when the public loses faith in the Supreme Court?"
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BaoBao Zhang Joins First Cohort of AI2050 Early Career Fellows
One of only 15 scholars chosen from across the U.S., Zhang will receive up to $200,000 in research funding over the next two years. Zhang will use the funding to partner with the nonprofit, non-partisan Center for New Democratic Processes to test whether public participation in AI governance is increased through the creation of public assemblies, known as “deliberative democracy workshops.”
Baobao Zhang
Assistant Professor, Political Science Department
Gadarian Study on the Politicization and Legitimacy of the Supreme Court Cited in Vox Article
May 6, 2022
Vox
The legitimacy of the Supreme Court has been eroded in recent years due to the unprecedented blockade of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, and the increasingly hardline conservative tilt of Court rulings, among other things. Combined, they do significant damage to the idea that the Court is somehow above politics. And Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade, if issued, could be yet another significant blow to Court legitimacy.
A 2019 paper by Shana Gadarian, professor of political science, and Maxwell alum Logan Strother '13 M.A. (PSc)/'17 Ph.D. (PSc) argues that the rise of extreme partisanship has changed the Court’s ability to issue controversial rulings and maintain its legitimacy afterward. In the current climate, they find, “policy disagreement with Supreme Court decisions leads individuals to view that decision, and the Court itself, as being political in nature”—which, they also show, damages the Court’s fundamental legitimacy.
Read more in the Vox article, "What happens when the public loses faith in the Supreme Court?"
Related News
Commentary
Dec 12, 2025
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Dec 11, 2025
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Dec 10, 2025