Maxwell School News and Commentary

"Partisanship is determining how citizens respond to COVID-19, and this divided response puts every American at risk," Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, and her co-authors write. "If America’s political elite cannot come together, the costs of COVID-19 will be disproportionately felt in those places where Republicans did not act." 

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, says that while the primary focus needs to be on the human cost of the crisis, "it is in fact a very good natural experiment to answer the question of how deep our polarization goes — and the answer is, very damn deep."

"With poorly communicated and inconsistent messaging that offers no clear guidelines, [Mexico's] federal government’s inaction has given rise to widespread rumors that are beginning to stoke panic and insecurity," says Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history and Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations.

"In the last two weeks, there are moments when he [President Trump] has sounded more ‘presidential’ than I have ever heard him," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "At the same time, he will revert to the old Trump. It’s hard to make sense of those things."

"The general phenomenon is one where primary voters are wanting to make decisions among the candidates that are the viable ones. They want to be choosing among those who have a chance," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, says that Senator Warren and Senator Sanders "are struggling for the same general bloc of Democratic voters, and Biden is offering an alternative to both of them—so it’s not like someone might abandon Sanders because of this conflict and then go to Biden." 

"If any Senate Republicans harbor doubts about [Mitch] McConnell’s position, then, recalling their oath to 'support and defend the Constitution,' they must ask themselves: Did the framers of the Constitution intend senators to be impartial jurors in impeachment trials?," writes Dana Radcliffe, adjunct professor of public administration and international affairs.

"On paper, you would say it has to hurt him [Trump] and there are public opinion data that back that up," says Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher. "But there are different ways this might be spun that we can’t predict right now. It could be that this mobilizes a set of voters in a way that helps Trump." 

"Even among his customary allies and supporters, there has been pretty blunt criticism, not only of the policy choice but of the way it was done and the way it is continuing to be done," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science, of the troop withdrawal in Syria.