Maxwell School News and Commentary

"Food Insecurity and the Opioid Crisis," co-authored by Colleen Heflin, professor and chair of public administration and international affairs, and postdoctoral research scholar Xiaohan Sun, was published in the ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.

The fact that the costs of compliance are typically borne by workers and consumers is a fundamental flaw of carbon pricing programs, says Matthew Huber, professor of geography and the environment. It’s one that, he suggests, has led to the Biden administration’s relatively skeptical stance on cap-and-trade programs.

Dennis Rasmussen, professor of political science, has written “The Constitution’s Penman: Gouverneur Morris and the Creation of America’s Basic Charter” (University Press of Kansas, 2023). 

Daniel McDowell, associate professor and director of undergraduate studies in political science, has written a new book, “Bucking the Buck: US Financial Sanctions and the International Backlash Against the Dollar” (Oxford University Press, 2023). 

“The U.S. has always been promoting and setting up this entire thing,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment. “It’s not like the Americans are passive in this. We have absolutely helped sow the seeds for that Saudi agricultural industry that has come back to us now.”

Buzard, associate professor of economics, is part of a three-member team that will explore the extent to which mothers are more likely than fathers to be contacted by their child’s school.

Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history, says Mexico already has a significant police and military presence on its side of the border and efforts to confront the cartels militarily have not solved the problem. “It’s been tried and it has failed colossally,” McCormick says. “So the idea to sort of try it again to me sounds utterly irresponsible.”

It’s unlikely anything will be done in the near term, in part because of the current lack of bipartisanship in Washington, says Gary Engelhardt, professor of economics.

Overall, grandmothers still take the lead in spending time with grandchildren, often rearranging their schedules to do so, says Madonna Harrington Meyer, University Professor and author of “Grandmothers at Work: Juggling Families and Jobs” (NYU Press, 2014).

"Selecting our nation’s leaders is becoming increasingly complex and challenging, but we can make it more effective by ensuring the processes—for elections as well as appointments—reinforce democracy rather than erode our confidence in it," says James-Christian Blockwood, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.