Maxwell School News and Commentary

"The Russian threat and the consolidation of the West: How populism and EU-skepticism shape party support for Ukraine," co-authored by Seth Jolly, associate professor and chair of political science, was published in European Union Politics.

“The Republican party now has a leader who has been very clear, in his speeches, rhetoric and actions, that he has authoritarian tendencies. He [President Donald Trump] doesn’t have a lot of respect for the norms of democracy, and he is willing to use violence and call on others to use violence to save power,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean for research.

Trump’s return to the White House would mark a radical change from Biden’s multilateralism, says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “[There would be] an emphasis on bilateral rather than multilateral relations, and a general reduction in American involvement in international affairs,” he says.

"The vast majority of members of Congress...come from safe districts that are decidedly red or decidedly blue. And so the primary election is the only consequential election that those members run in and if those elections are determined by nothing but their partisan base, it's a pretty clear through line to how that really distorts our politics," says Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs.

John Zogby ’74 M.A. (Hist) joined political scientists for the State of Democracy lecture to examine voter turnout and other top issues affecting the 2024 election.

“I think IVF is an issue that hasn't been politicized before and could be one that could get people thinking about the ways that reproductive health is connected to politics and engage them,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean for research. “It may push people to the polls.”

“It was definitely always a long shot and the ruling is not surprising,” says Thomas Keck, professor of political science and Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics. But, he adds, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling opened up larger questions about what guardrails exist to protect US democracy.

“Even among the Republican primary voters, there are 40% of the people in that state who preferred Haley to Trump,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “So, bearing in mind that Trump is a former president, has four years of a presidential record, lost a pretty close election in 2020...there's a significant chunk of the Republican Party that is not happy with him.”

“IVF is a pretty common procedure now, and if someone directly hasn’t gone through it, it is relatively common among groups that are more likely to be conservative,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science and associate dean for research. “These are procedures people think of as important in their own lives and are probably separable from abortion.”

"We've seen moments where there are more heavy exits from Congress, and that it is like a canary in the coal mine," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "If I'm the speaker, I'm definitely worried."