Maxwell School News

“This is an alarming trend,” says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs. “The more coups happen, the more success they enjoy, the more temptation there will be for future juntas around Africa.”

“Unfortunately, academics as much as many others, including Silicon Valley folks, are culpable for spreading this kind of fear and anxiety in the society,” says University Professor Hamid Ekbia. “Let’s stop for a second, take a deep breath, and see what is really possible in both directions, in terms of risks, but also in terms of the promises.”  

“These indictments aren’t endearing independents to Trump,” says Shana Gadarian, professor and chair of political science, noting that in the last election, independents were key to Mr. Biden’s victory in pivotal battleground states. 

"Sanctions: Greater Congressional Oversight Needed for Costly, Ineffective "Go-To" Policy," co-authored by Kristen Patel, Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs, was published in the Syracuse Law Review.

Entitled “Like-minded Sources on Facebook Are Prevalent but Not Polarizing” and co-authored by Assistant Professor of Political Science Emily Thorson, this groundbreaking research published in Nature uses an on-platform experiment to examine what happens when Facebook users see dramatically less content from people who share their political leanings.

"Typically, you would expect a decrease in voter attendance because they’re [members of Parliament, MPs] working in the private sector. What you find among Labour MPs is no difference whatsoever. Among Conservative MPs you actually find that attendance increases when they have a second job. So they are more likely to attend votes," says Simon Weschle, associate professor of political science.

“Going forward I think there’s almost no doubt he’s going to be indicted in Washington. And because he’s going to be indicted in Washington and the potential for a jury that would sit and judge him in Washington, his prospects for remaining free got a lot darker,” says William Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs.

"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.

"After 9/11, the U.S. Treasury recognised that global dollar dominance gave Washington control over the critical plumbing of global finance. A new breed of financial sanctions emerged which could precisely cut individual targets—terrorists, foreign government officials, state institutions, firms—off from the dollar system. ‘Smart’ financial sanctions revolutionised economic warfare," writes Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science.

"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.

Brian Taylor, professor of political science, says that the mutiny fallout has put Putin in a position he's neither familiar nor comfortable with—often using his pulpit to blast political enemies, both inside and outside of Moscow. "Now he's applying that very same language to one of his own guys, someone he elevated to a position of power and responsibility," Taylor says.

"The problem of private warfare is control and accountability. And you have very little of it, especially in a conflict zone. So right now, we have the problem—well, Putin has a problem, is he can give amnesty temporarily to Wagner Group and to Prigozhin," says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

"What I think is the best mode is for the government to step back and to support community organizations who are often at the forefront of these conversations and are often populated by people who are directly impacted, and who are the very people who have the expertise because they are the people we are talking about," says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

"I think Putin emerges from this significantly weakened," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science. "I think if you're a member of the Russian elite or are in fact a member of the Russian population, you're going to look at this and think, 'Wow, a private army just drove on Moscow for most of the day. No one stopped them and they're allowed to leave and no real consequences.'"

“Because the consequences are so dire, this high-stakes game of debt-limit chicken always ends the same way: Congress raises the borrowing cap just before calamity strikes. The theater does little more than waste money and generate a lot of breathless commentary,” Leonard Burman, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, wrote in a 2021 analysis.

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.

"He’s [Prigozhin] clearly trying to draw a sharp contrast between his presence directly on the battlefield, his engagement with his soldiers, and the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, which he frequently attacks as being out of touch elitists who are damaging the war effort," says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.

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.