Political Science News

Thompson discusses the possibility of Trump resigning with WPIX

President Trump could resign shortly before his term ends on Jan. 20 at which point Vice President Mike Pence would assume office and could issue a pardon. "This would certainly be legal, if questionably ethical, especially if there were a prior agreement between Pence and Trump," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. "You’ll recall that Ford pardoned Nixon under similar circumstances, though Ford denied throughout his life that there had been any agreement between him and Nixon." Read more in the WPIX-11 article, "Could President Trump resign?"

New study examines age‐at‐death disparity, people with and without IDD

"Evidence of continued reduction in the age‐at‐death disparity between adults with and without intellectual and/or developmental disabilities," co-authored by sociologists Scott Landes and Janet Wilmoth, along with social science PhD student Erika Carter Grosso '10 MA (PSc), was published in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Evidence from the study demonstrates that the age‐at‐death disparity between adults who did or did not have an intellectual and/or developmental disability reported on their death certificate continues to decrease, but the magnitude of the remaining disparity varied considerably by type of disability.

White quoted in Patch article on police unions

Steven White, assistant professor of political science, says one reason it's so hard to fire a police officer, even one who appears to have broken the law, is because there are so many opportunities for the officers and their unions to appeal. These provisions are often built into the collective bargaining agreements, which makes it unlikely that there will be much in the way of reform, he says. "The language in the contracts is very much stacked toward officers and letting officers get away with things, which is not surprising," White says. Read more in the Patch article, "Here's How One Honolulu Cop Got His Job Back After He Was Fired For Misconduct."

Gadarian discusses partisan divide over COVID-19 in USA Today

"I thought at some point, reality would come back in for people and they would have a hard time balancing their motivations to stay consistent with their partisanship with what's going on on the ground," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, who has tracked American attitudes toward the pandemic since it began. "That was wholly optimistic on my part." Gadarian was interviewed for the USA Today article, "As COVID surges, Americans remain divided on the threat. What will it take to bring them together?"

Jackson op-ed on protectionism, white femininity published in Truthout

"As the majority of white women continue to support candidates whose policies stand in opposition to the concerns and experiences of vulnerable populations in the United States, there remains a proclivity among progressives to protect them from criticism," writes Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science. Their op-ed, "Yes, 55 Percent of White Women Voted for Trump. No, I’m Not Surprised," was published in Truthout.

Reeher weighs in on NY's relationship with Biden in Press Republican

Under Biden the state could find itself having a much more responsive federal government, and a number of Democrats, not just Cuomo, could be among the beneficiaries, says Professor Grant Reeher. "It certainly gives the state a much louder voice in Washington," he says. And that is expected to be the case even if national Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate, via two special runoff elections slated to be held in early January, Reeher adds. Read more in the Press Republican article, "Biden could give Albany more influence."

Abdelaaty examines asylum admissions in International Interactions

Why would a country welcome some refugees and treat others poorly? More specifically, why do countries accept some asylum applications and reject others? In her study titled "Rivalry, ethnicity, and asylum admissions worldwide," Assistant Professor of Political Science Lamis Abdelaaty argues that states’ approaches to refugees are shaped by foreign policy and ethnic politics. The article was published in International Interactions.

Gadarian provides post-election commentary on TRT World, WAER

"These baseless accusations of electoral fraud do a lot of damage to the public’s belief in the electoral system and in democracy itself," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. "And that is extremely damaging to our democracy." Gadarian was interviewed for the TRT World segment, "How Biden Beat Trump." She was also interviewed for the WAER segment, "What Can Trump Achieve or Get Away with During Lame Duck Presidency?"

Abdelaaty piece on UNHCR refugee status determination published in FMR

"RSD by UNHCR: difficulties and dilemmas," written by Assistant Professor of Political Science Lamis Abdelaaty, was published in Forced Migration Review. Abdelaaty draws on archival research relating to Egypt, Kenya and Turkey to explore the potential consequences of the UNHCR's (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) involvement in refugee status determination (RSD) procedures in a country’s territory.

White discusses the importance of GA runoff elections in The Nation

The stakes are as high as they possibly could be, because, as Assistant Professor of Political Science Steven White notes, "If Democrats win the two Senate races in Georgia, their odds of being able to pass the legislation in their platform [go] up dramatically." White was quoted in The Nation article, "Georgia Voters Can Put an End to Mitch McConnell’s Grim Reaping." He was also quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article, "Democrats pin Senate hopes on Georgia runoff elections," the White Plains CitizeNetReporter article, "Impact of Georgia U.S. Senate Seat Runoff Elections," and the The 74 article, "Makeup of Senate Means Biden Will Likely Lack Votes and ‘Big Buckets of Funding’ for Expansive Education Agenda."

Thorson provides key election takeaways in Washington Post article

High voter turnout, rethinking election "fundamentals," nationalized politics, and the significance of electoral cycles are just a few of the takeaways from the 2020 election that Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, and her co-author write about. Their article, "Here are six big takeaways from the 2020 elections," was published in the Washington Post.

Bybee talks to WSYR about how to deal with political polarization

"I think what’s important to realize about civility is it’s all a matter of display. It’s a matter of showing people respect. You don’t have to like everybody," says Keith Bybee, professor of political science and author of "How Civility Works." The problem with that is many people have different ideas of what respectable behavior should look like. It all comes back to how you were raised, says Bybee. Read more in the WSYR article, "Dealing with the differences: How to handle political polarization."

Gadarian quoted in NPR article on COVID-19, support for Trump

"What we've seen is over time that the biggest determinant of people's worries about COVID-19 and their attitudes about COVID-19 is not where they live or the COVID-19 deaths in their area, but it is their partisanship," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. "We know partisanship matters a great deal for people's vote choice." Read more in the NPR article, "Many Places Hard Hit By COVID-19 Leaned More Toward Trump In 2020 Than 2016." Gadarian was also interviewed for the City & State article, "New York’s voter registration and turnout continue to lag."

Reeher provides election commentary to local, international press

"It may be the Democrats have yet to find the balance they need between the left wing of their party and the rest of it," Professor Grant Reeher told Spectrum News. "Biden struggled to balance these two camps. Republicans beat expectations, and with a more ‘presidential’ candidate at the top of the ticket, they could be well positioned in 2024." Reeher provided election commentary to several local and international media outlets.

Pralle discusses updating county flood maps in Cortland Standard

The Cortland County flood map "might show a reasonable flood risk today, but since we don’t make those investment decisions with ramifications far into the future, the maps don’t really help us plan for a different climate," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. "When we look at flood maps now, the conversations are about the insurance cost," Pralle says. Instead, "we have to get to the point where we talk about these things as risks and how to mitigate these things as well." Read more in the Cortland Standard article, "What Cortland County’s flood map does, and doesn’t, show."

Bybee talks to WAER about the partisan profile of SCOTUS

"Majorities of Americans will no longer see the court as an impartial harbinger of law, and will instead interpret judicial decisions simply as Democrats and Republicans in opposition, on the high court," says Keith Bybee, professor of political science. "When you have that kind of understanding eclipsing a view of impartiality, then the legitimacy of the entire institution is at risk." Read more in the WAER article, "SU Professor Questions Whether Supreme Court Can Be Seen as Impartial Amid Partisan Influences."

Stonecash discusses what drives polarization in CSM

Polarization will also likely exist long after President Trump has left the stage, says Jeffrey Stonecash, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science. To understand it, we need to examine the ideas and values that drive it – which groups embrace some ideas and not others, and how those groups politically align, he argues. At the heart of all this is a question, Stonecash says: What defines America? Read more in the Christian Science Monitor article, "Election 2020’s fundamental question: ‘What defines America?’" Stonecash was also quoted in the TODAY article, "US presidential election — what a Trump or Biden win means."

Bennett, Gadarian quoted in NYT on voters' fear for our democracy

There have been other moments of interlocking crises and deep anxiety in America in the past century. But in those moments, the country didn’t have a president seen by many as having "taken a pickax to the tent poles of democratic institutions," says Professor Emeritus David Bennett. According to Shana Gadarian, "There are a couple ways in which the president has chosen an ineffective strategy." The first is that he has tried to tug on personal worries, like falling property values. "The second," she says, "is telling people not to be worried about something that is in fact worrisome." Read more in the New York Times article, "Americans Are Afraid. Not for Themselves, but for the Country."

Gadarian cited in Atlantic, NY Times articles on perceptions of Trump

"In a threatening environment, Americans reward candidates and parties perceived to hold hawkish positions" and "punish candidates perceived to be dovish," Shana Gadarian told the New York Times. She was interviewed for the article, "Trump Couldn’t Play the Tough Guy This Time." Gadarian was also cited in The Atlantic article, "Why Many White Men Love Trump’s Coronavirus Response."

Taylor weighs in on US-Russia relations under Biden in RFE/RL article

A Biden administration, analysts say, would deliver a more consistent policy to the Kremlin, potentially enabling the U.S. and Russia to get more done even if his stance or rhetoric is tougher than Trump's. Clearer messaging could mean that "on certain issues, U.S. policy might be tougher than it has been under Trump," says Professor Brian Taylor. "But it also might mean that in certain areas, it's easier to see possible so-called 'win-win' solutions that just aren't on the table now because of how dysfunctional the process has become." Read more in the RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL) article, "Russia Relations Unlikely To Improve, Regardless Of U.S. Election Outcome."

Barkun quoted in Wash Post article on the dark mood of the election

"I didn’t take it seriously for a long time, but in the last six weeks, it’s become very concerning," says Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science. "This idea that the other side winning the election will produce a precipitous decline and the disintegration of institutions is completely at variance with American history." Read more in the Washington Post article, "The end of democracy? To many Americans, the future looks dark if the other side wins."

Reeher discusses Biden's debate strategy in The Hill

"I think the main thing for Biden at this point is to simply show up and get through the event without a major breakdown of some kind," says Professor Grant Reeher. Most viewers are already locked in with their preferred candidate, Reeher says. "They’re just watching to see the show, or to root on their team, or to see a train wreck, and not to try to figure something out." Read more in The Hill article, "Biden's debate strategy is to let Trump be Trump."

Stonecash provides insight on understanding the election in NY Times

To understand the election, Jeffrey Stonecash says, we should be asking "about what values and ideas are driving polarization and which groups embrace some ideas rather than others." At the moment, he argues, Americans seems intensely divided by the question: "What defines America: is it a set of people (white, Christian) or is it a set of ideals that anyone can come and achieve. To the former immigrants are an alien threat and dangerous (as it has always been in American history). What value should prevail: individual rights and anti-government beliefs or is there a collective interest that sometimes requires some constraints on individuals?" Read more in the New York Times article, "Biden Is Not Out of the Woods."

Cohen piece on critical race theory, US election published in El País

"With immigration halted and immigrants who remain forced to live in terror, Trump is now delivering to his followers the next phase of his war, in which his targets are the US citizens who have long been forced to the margins of their own country," says Professor Elizabeth Cohen and co-author Jason Stanley of Yale University. "Both the 2016 campaign and the 2020 campaign are celebrations of white nationalism. Both campaigns were about race all along." Their article, "Critical race theory and the 2020 US election," was published in El País.

Reeher speaks to Washington Examiner about the role of suburban voters

In an increasingly polarized political climate, Professor Grant Reeher says the "friends and neighbors" effect of politics hasn't been so effective in recent cycles. "It makes perfect sense that Biden’s going to play that up, especially when he has the advantage of being from one of the most important battleground states," Reeher says. "He can use that connection. How much it resonates with people in an election that is so deeply nationalized and polarized is probably less than it would be maybe 20 years ago." Read more in the Washington Examiner article, "Biden counts Pennsylvania as second home, but voters there aren't sold on him."

Reeher discusses Biden-Trump competing town halls in USA Today

Professor Grant Reeher says that Trump could be looking to recover after being largely criticized for his performance in the first presidential debate last month, where the candidates traded insults and crosstalk clogged much of the conversation. "I think there's more pressure on (Trump) to remedy that in terms of the way he comes across in this event," Reeher says. Read more in the USA Today article, "Here's what to know about the Joe Biden, Donald Trump competing town halls tonight."

Reeher speaks to VOA about why the VP is important this election

Professor Grant Reeher was interviewed by VOA Korea for a segment on why the vice president is significant for the 2020 election. Reeher cites the ages of the presidential candidates and President Trump's health issues. His comments begin at 2:50.

Barkun quoted in Foreign Policy article on QAnon

"It might seem strange to call an online conspiracy theory an apocalyptic movement," says Professor Emeritus Michael Barkun. "But at the heart of such beliefs, from those who expected the Second Coming in 19th-century America to their counterparts in the Taiping Rebellion across the Pacific, is the idea of revelation. Believers are offered some special insight into the future and the knowledge that a great change is coming. That’s part of what made QAnon so appealing," he says. Read more in the Foreign Policy article, "QAnon’s Sound and Fury."

Reeher weighs in on Trump's impact on Katko's campaign in The Citizen

"Trump has become a millstone around Katko's neck," says Professor Grant Reeher. "Clearly the main campaign strategy of the Balter campaign is to associate Katko with Trump as much as possible. In this regard, the president's performance in the first debate probably hurt Katko by proxy," he says. Read more in the The Citizen article, "How Biden and Trump are helping (or hurting) Balter and Katko in CNY race for Congress."

Gadarian discusses the effect of anxiety on political behavior on KGOU

"The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be more politicized and more threatening to some people on the political left than it is on the political right," says Shana Gadarian. "There are these differing messages, one about whether or not the pandemic is a threat and two, how you actually protect yourself from it. We see this variation in both who people turn to for those messages and their actual behaviors in light of those recommendations that are coming differently from the Centers for Disease Control than from the White House." Listen to the full KGOU interview, "Oklahoma Engaged: How Fear And Anxiety Impact Political Behavior."

Thompson discusses impact of Trump's health with CNY Central, KPCC

"This is unusual in that it's part of a larger national story, it's not simply a story that a particular individual has contracted or a condition that a particular president has contracted. Its part of a pandemic," Margaret Susan Thompson tells CNY Central. If the president's condition worsens to the point where his presidential authority needs to be transferred to Vice President Mike Pence, it will have a major impact on the upcoming election, she says. "If he becomes seriously ill obviously it will have an impact." Thompson was also interviewed on KPCC's "AirTalk."

Gadarian speaks to FiveThirtyEight, WAER about Trump's diagnosis

"Attitudes and behaviors around COVID-19 have become really concrete at this point — it will take a lot to move them in a significant, lasting way," Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, told FiveThirtyEight. She also spoke to WAER about the impact of President Trump's COVID-19 diagnosis.

White quoted in LAT article on mistruths surrounding Trump's health

"We don’t know how well the president is doing," says Steven White, assistant professor of political science. "That’s something you see in authoritarian regimes. You shouldn’t see that in democracies." White was quoted in the Los Angeles Times article, "News Analysis: A history of falsehoods comes back to haunt the COVID-stricken president."

Faricy piece on the obstacle to reforming tax code published in NYT

In his article "The American Dream Is Tax Reform’s Biggest Obstacle," published in the New York Times, Associate Professor of Political Science Chris Faricy argues that the main obstacle to reforming the tax code is not Mr. Trump, but rather the upper-middle-class American voter. "Tax subsidies are amenable to the American psyche because they provide social insurance that doesn’t feel like government welfare," writes Faricy. "In our research, we found that many respondents viewed tax subsidy recipients as more deserving of government aid than beneficiaries of identically described programs where the assistance was provided through direct checks."

Reeher discusses court-packing with Fox News

Adding seats to the court would be a "heavy lift politically. I have a hard time seeing that actually happening," says Professor Grant Reeher. "I think the tone of things would shift quickly if Biden were elected," Reeher continues, saying there would be "more pushback" if Biden and Democrats actually pushed it forward. Read more in the Fox News article, "Some Democrat Senate candidates buck liberal base on packing the Supreme Court."

Reeher weighs in on rush to fill vacant SCOTUS seat in Lockport US&J

The risk for Democrats in the debate is that an overly aggressive push to scuttle the nomination process before the election could be perceived by many voters as a partisan scheme to stack the high court with their nominees, says Professor Grant Reeher. A "more prudent strategy' would be for Democrats to work behind the scenes to pressure a handful of GOP senators to breaks rank with McConnell and oppose a rapid nomination process, he says. Read more in the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal article, "Top New York Democrats urge delay in filling high court vacancy."

D'Amico quoted in CSM article on the 2020 UN General Assembly

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres noted in his address opening the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Tuesday that the world is at "another 1945 moment," referring to the hinge year that saw both the end of World War II and the founding of the U.N. "The U.S. chose multilateralism in 1945, and we were able to remake the world in our image, and in ways that served our interests," says Francine D’Amico, teaching professor of international relations. "But now Trump’s theme seems not to be America as leader or partner, but more of an America-focused individualism," she says. Read more in the Christian Science Monitor article "At UN assembly quieted by a pandemic, the US-China clash is loud."

Reeher discusses the media's treatment of Trump in The Hill

"I am not suggesting the media is behaving in the way the president describes or that the media is making anything up or knowingly reporting anything that is false," says Professor Grant Reeher. "But I do think it is also clear, after almost four years of his presidency, that editorial choices — about story selection, story framing and also, in particular, choices of headline — are very clearly very critical of the president." Reeher was interviewed for The Hill article, "The Memo: Media accused of using kid-gloves on Biden."

Keck talks to WAER about the Supreme Court justice vacancy

"For most of the Supreme Court’s history, the process of presidential appointment and Senate confirmation has ensured that the Court’s views broadly track those of the American public," says Professor Tom Keck. "That electoral connection has been sundered in recent decades, as Democrats won the popular vote in six of the past seven presidential elections, while Republicans maintained a lock on the Court." Read more in the WAER article, "Local Praise for Ruth Bader Ginsburg & Caution for Rushing to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy."

Thompson quoted in AP article on Trump's response to COVID-19

"He sees everything, including the implications of this terrible virus, in terms of his own political and personal success — ‘How does it affect me and my electability and my popularity,’" says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. She was quoted in the Associated Press article, "Analysis: US to hit 200K dead; Trump sees no need for regret."

Jackson wins Tenth Decade grant to study Black Americans, group threat

Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science, has been awarded $20,000 for their research project Race, Risks, and Responses: Mapping Black Americans’ Response to Group Threat. The grant is part of a special call to Maxwell faculty offering Tenth Decade Project funding to support research and initiatives that confront systemic racial inequality. Jackson’s project builds on and expands their inquiry into how young Black Americans of different social identities (across gender, class, sexual orientation, embodiment, etc.) experience threats, especially policing, differently based on variations in their social location and orientation to power.

Gadarian speaks to ABC News about partisanship and people's behaviors

"We've been talking to the same [3,000] Americans since early March, every six weeks or so," says Shana Gadarian. "We had a sense that people would vary on policy beliefs based on their partisanship. What was unexpected was the big, huge difference in health behaviors — like the change in how much they're washing their hands and whether or not they stopped going to social events and whether they were staying home more," she says. Read more in the ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) article, "Coronavirus is the 2020 US election issue. But it's not changing the way Americans see Donald Trump."

Keck comments on priority of the Supreme Court in 2020 election in SBG

"The Republican base has been more focused on that issue [Supreme Court] than the Democratic base has from Reagan forward, roughly," says Thomas Keck, professor of political science and Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics. "There’s some evidence that that’s shifting." Keck was interviewed for the Sinclair Broadcast Group article, "As Trump spotlights judicial nominations, Biden offers little insight on his plans."

Jackson discusses forced sterilizations, criminalization via Truthout

News reports on Monday revealed that gynecologists in an immigrant jail in Georgia have performed high rates of hysterectomies, often without the full awareness of the immigrant women themselves. "The United States’s commitment to eugenics, medical abuse and forced sterilizations depicts the complex nature of perceived criminality in this country," writes Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science. "By marking certain people’s bodies as inherently evil, anti-patriotic and outside of the community of citizenship, the state casts a veil over the grave human rights infringements and institutional abuses it enacts against nonwhite, non-wealthy, non-male, non-normative people." Their article, "Forced Sterilization Is Nothing New to Criminalized People in the US," was published on Truthout.org.

Abdelaaty examines attitudes towards refugees in Europe in new study

"Explaining Attitudes Toward Refugees and Immigrants in Europe," co-authored by Assistant Professor of Political Science Lamis Abdelaaty, was published in Political Studies. The study shows that individuals hold different views of refugees and immigrants and are, at times, more receptive to one group than the other. By and large, they found that attitudes toward refugees are more often related to macro-level factors while immigrants are more frequently associated with micro-level economic concerns.

Gadarian speaks to CBS Sunday Morning about the politics of COVID-19

"We thought that the more worried people were about COVID, the more likely they were to be following all of the, kind of public health best practices," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. "And that's not what we found. What we found was that the biggest divider in people's behaviors was not their age, not their demographics, not their education; it was their partisanship." The full segment, "Why did COVID-19 become partisan?," was aired on CBS Sunday Morning.

Reeher comments on political hyperbole in USA Today

Professor Grant Reeher says hyperbole is common in politics and voters are used to Trump’s exaggerations. "I think a lot of this is just taking advantage of 'targets of opportunity,'" says Reeher. "Democrats, especially those generating the most enthusiasm within the party, are asserting some pretty left proposals, relatively speaking." Reeher says the socialist and radical labels are having little impact. "After four years, voters are used to the hyperbole." Read more in the USA Today article "The Trump campaign wants to paint Biden as left-wing, despite his moderate record."

Scholars join faculty for 2020-21; new chairs announced

Five tenure-track faculty members have joined the Maxwell School for the 2020-21 academic year. In addition, three current faculty members have been named chairs of their academic departments.

Thompson discusses progress, role of women in politics on WAER

"We still haven't elected a woman on the national ticket in either party," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. "I think we still have a long way to go before we can talk about equality. But what we're talking about is progress." She was featured in the WAER segment "Women Making Progress in Securing Elected Office, But Equality Remains Elusive." Thompson was also quoted in the American Prospect article "Women Will Decide Which Man Is Right for the Job."

Gueorguiev lends guidance on how to teach China content in ChinaFile

Dimitar Gueorguiev, assistant professor of political science, explains the importance of keeping China topics in the classroom, and offers advice on how to manage risks posed by the newly enacted National Security Law in Hong Kong while creating content related to China. His co-authored piece, "How To Teach China This Fall," was published by ChinaFile.

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