Maxwell School News

The highly educated, richer professionals of the Democratic Party "are aware they are building barriers around who succeeds and who doesn’t," says Jeffrey Stonecash, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science. "A lot of people disparage all of this, but a lot of white guilt is built around the fact that the world can be unfair."

"Clearly this is an expression of partisanship gone awry," says Corri Zoli, research assistant professor of political science, about recent suspicious packages sent to media and liberal leaders.

"It does look like it was not a terribly sophisticated campaign or attack," says Professor Emeritus William Banks about high profile democrats, public figures, and the CNN newsroom in New York receiving apparent explosive devices. "On the other hand, the packages did manage to get through the postal system without getting detected, so it is certainly a worrisome case."

According to Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, the opioid crisis is not disproportionately rural, but mortality rates among different rural areas vary drastically, depending on factors such as work stability and social infrastructure like churches or sport leagues. 

A gift commitment from alumna Jill Weitzen MacDonald ’74 M.P.A. has established the Weitzen Foreign Policy Scholars Fund. The fund will support students who have demonstrated interest in foreign policy and international affairs, with preference to those who plan to pursue careers at the U.S. Department of State.

William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says "There are no Justice Department rules that limit the investigation in the pendency of an election. Mr. Mueller is simply going about his day and lugging the law and facts to where they need to go."

"My sense is that he's relying on some stock phrases that he pulls out again and again, especially when he's called on to make a statement about an issue that perhaps he hasn't done a lot of research on or doesn't have a lot of information on," says Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science. 

"The general impulse seems to favor the conservative/republican mood... But the Democrats have recruited many women who are competing for competitive seats...and the confirmation of Kavanaugh could help the Democratic candidates in places that count," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

Professor Emeritus William Banks discussed Christopher Wray's Senate Testimony on a Bloomberg Law podcast. In his testimony, Wray named China as the number one threat to the U.S, and discussed FBI mishandlings of background checks and drone regulations.

"So there's a great deal of uncertainty and firms are really in doubt as to what they should do because moving the supply chain is costly. Before you want to do that, you want to make sure that it's something that you really need to do," says Mary Lovely. professor of economics.

"Amway made the DeVos family wealthy while offering few, if any, tangible gains for its distributor force. If past is prologue, the president’s base may want to brace itself," writes current Ph.D. student Davor Mondom ’12 B.A. (Econ/Hist)/’15 M.A. (Hist)/’16 M.Phil. (Hist) 

"It was just another, additional piece of evidence for Democratic voters and particularly Democratic women that...women are not valued as much as men and they aren't to be believed, and they don't matter," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science.