Campbell Institute News

"It’s an important inflection point, if you will, of now seeing the opportunity for commercial transportation of humans into space," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe, former administrator of NASA. "This is much akin to the transition when the first civil aviation aircraft took off decades ago after many decades of it being exclusively a public endeavor."

"You can’t explain SpaceX without really understanding how NASA really kind of nurtured it in the early days," says Harry Lambright, professor of public administration and international affairs and political science. "In a way, SpaceX is kind of a child of NASA."

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, says Biden could have a hard time getting enthusiastic support from former Sanders supporters due to his lengthy record—three decades of Senate votes and two terms in the White House as President Barack Obama's vice president.

The polarization of American life had been going on for years before Trump was even a political figure, says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. But, "what is different now [the COVID-19 pandemic], and what gives this a sharper edge is the fact that emotions are running so high."

 75% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans said they wore masks in public, finds a study conducted by Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, and her colleagues.

"Every candidate has campaigned on a bureaucracy-bashing theme," says Tina Nabatchi, Joseph A. Strasser Endowed Professor in Public Administration. "That message has gotten through to affect people’s confidence in government."

"As disturbing as these allegations against Vice President Biden are, similar allegations have been made against President Trump... I think [voting for Biden is] a legitimate choice to make that does not negate the possibility that Tara Reade is telling the truth," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science.

“People are taking their cues from political leadership and from doctors, and to the extent that those are different, people will turn to their more trusted sources,” says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science.

"I don’t think the issue is likely to cause someone to vote for Trump instead of Biden," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. "The problem is what it does for the level of enthusiasm for Biden among different constituencies, and the turnout for him. It could have a dampening effect there."

"Normally, I think that people take cues from the president but since his messaging has been relatively muddled... people seem to be filling in their preferred position for his," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. 

"We’ve recommended that the medical experts be up front and center, and the political leaders take a step back and defer to the doctors and to the head of the health agencies, because that’s who anxious people want to hear from," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science.

Matthew Young, assistant professor of public administration and international affairs, put forth in his new book a threefold strategy to assist government leaders and public managers with how best to approach using AI.

"This campaign is going to be about how people think and feel about how the government has responded to this crisis [COVID-19]," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute.

"When you hear [health] experts saying one thing and the head of your [political] party saying another, that’s a troubling kind of thing to decide," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. In the United States, "What we’re seeing evidence of is that Republicans are basically going with what the president says."

"This is a remarkable chapter in NASA’s history that has lived for 50 years to remind everybody at that remarkable storied agency what a tremendous accomplishment can be yielded even in moments in which it appears to be on the verge of failure," University Professor Sean O'Keefe says. "It reminds us of our humanity." 

"You can’t just turn the lights out and say, we’ll be back," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe. "[The space station] is an asset that needs constant operational attention."

"At its core, this is about an aircraft carrier skipper who sees an imminent threat and is forced to make a decision that risks his career in the act of what he believes to be the safety of the near 5,000 members of his crew," says University Professor Sean O’Keefe.

"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." 

"If you don't have online access, the only alternative presumably will be to call the Social Security Administration national number and hope for the best," says University Professor and Dean Emeritus John Palmer.