Political Science News and Events

"The forces he is up against are much bigger than President Trump and are tectonic in nature. There are a set of forces that push us apart rather than bring us together," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. But, he adds, "I do think having a period of time for the country to experience the absence of the daily melodrama of the Trump presidency will help."

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. "It's not surprising that police unions want it to be harder to punish officers," White added.

"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.  "That was wholly optimistic on my part."