Campbell Institute News

Scholars, journalists and a pollster recently discussed voter turnout, polling uncertainties and what’s at stake in the Nov. 3 election. 

“One of the challenges of tax cuts is that people only interact with the tax system once a year, and it’s in April,” says Chris Faricy, associate professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

“I think he has become an influence not because he’s been explicitly political, but because he has emphasized Catholic social teaching and reminded Catholics, including Catholic voters in the U.S. that Catholic social teaching is a part of the teaching of the Church,” says Margaret Susan Thompson, professor of history and political science.

The chapter, co-authored by Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Robert Rubinstein and Professor Emerita of Public Health Sandra Lane, was published in the De Gruyter Handbook of Structural Violence.

The article, co-authored by Miklós Sebők, faculty fellow and senior research associate in the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, was published in Nature Scientific Data.

“It’s really important that we get our definition right with any attempts at regulating this very fast-moving technology,” says Baobao Zhang, Maxwell Dean Associate Professor of the Politics of AI. Super intelligence would be a misleading descriptor for general-purpose AI, as well as AI systems that are more narrow in scope, she says.

The full-day event on Oct. 16 is part of the school’s USA@250 programming and will feature a keynote by Goldman School Dean David C. Wilson and panels with faculty scholars and pollster John Zogby ’74 M.A. (Hist).

“I think it’s going to cut both ways. On the one hand, Trump’s negatives in New York are very deep. People are very emotional—the ones that don’t like Trump really don’t like him,” says Grant Reeher, professor of  political science. But he can also help fill the Republican enthusiasm gap, he says.

The article, co-authored by Associate Professor of Political Science Christopher Faricy, was published in Political Behavior.

“The contest for Senate control is becoming increasingly competitive, largely due to what continues to come out of the White House—evidenced by the president’s extremely low approval ratings. This latest appearance of essentially a bribe by the president for a good outcome in the midterms will not help,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.

“Federal law protects both civilian and military public servants from punishment for refusing to follow illegal orders, though few employees know these protections exist,” writes University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe, who served in both Bush administrations at the Pentagon, White House and NASA; and Josh Gotbaum, who served in the Clinton Administration as an appointee at the Treasury Department and the Office of Management and Budget.

The event will be held in the K.G. Tan Auditorium on Sept. 14, and features a screening of the documentary, The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11: From Tragedy to Triumph, produced by Maxwell alumnus Chris Meek.

Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history, talks about his new book, Gangster of New York: A Violent Life in Nineteenth-Century America, that follows the remarkable career of Louis Bieral—a boxer, gambler, political enforcer and American Civil War veteran.

Andrew Wender Cohen, professor and director of graduate studies in the History Department, has written Gangster of New York: A Violent Life in Nineteenth Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2026). The book traces the extraordinary life of Louis Bieral, a 19th-century gangster, politician, sportsman and Civil War hero whose turbulent journey illuminates the violence woven into the fabric of American life.

Maxwell political scientist Emily Thorson has been named the inaugural Fortunato Priore Endowed Faculty Fellow in Civic Engagement, an appointment made possible by an alumnus’ estate gift.

Bruce Blakeman should concentrate on pocketbook issues that could appeal to independent voters, says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. 

Jiahuan Lu, associate professor of public administration and international affairs, has co-edited a new research handbook, Nonprofit Organization Management in China: Research and Practice (Routledge, 2026). The volume examines nonprofit management in China through a comparative, organizational lens rather than the state-society framework common in earlier scholarship. 

The article, co-authored by Associate Professor of Political Science Emily Thorson and Maxwell alumna Emma Dreher, was published in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law.

Co-authored by Sarah Pralle and Emily Thorson, both associate professors of political science, the article was published in Policy Studies Journal.

“Humans have a lot of failure of imagination. We just can’t imagine that it will happen to us,” says University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe. “All it’s got to do is show up in a major metropolitan area,” he adds.