Maxwell School News and Commentary

"If people decide that they will vote for somebody, regardless of what they may have done in their past, that's one thing," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. "But if they vote under the misconception that somebody is what they say they are and then they find out later when it's too late that [it] is wrong. That's a very different situation."

"The Problem with Primaries," written by Richard Barton, assistant teaching professor of public administration and international affairs, was published in American Purpose. "To free political parties from fringe candidates, we need to eliminate primaries that favor extremes," says Barton.

“The state level is probably where abortion rights advocates will need to work, and have had some success in the last year,” says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science.

Maxwell professors Chris Faricy, Shana Gadarian, Jenn Jackson and Sean O'Keefe participated in the Campbell Lecture, “After the Election: Assessing the Midterms,” on Nov. 17. Grant Reeher, director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, moderated the discussion.

There is a "mismatch between policies about abortion and attitudes about abortion at the state level," Shana Gadarian, professor of political science, tells Axios.  While opinions around abortion are "relatively nuanced," even "Republican voters tend to be more pro-choice than the policies that we're seeing in Republican states," Gadarian adds.

“That seems to be what the outcome was—it was a non-outcome outcome. Maybe that’s not the worst thing in the world because I think we do need a presidential election year in which to try to establish some kind of direction on this,” Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells CNN.

“This is not the kind of thing that is done unilaterally by people in counties,” Ryan Griffiths, associate professor of political science, tells the New York Post. “They have to get the state of Oregon on board and the state of Idaho, and that’s a very high bar.”

“With new lines being drawn, it injects a lot of uncertainty into the race,” Chris Faricy, associate professor of political science, tells WAER. “With Katko not being on the ballot, we have two new candidates who have to introduce themselves to the voters of Central New York.”

If Republicans gain control of the House, the committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol—which recently issued a legal summons ordering Trump to testify—could be dismantled. "He'll claim that vindicates him," Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells the BBC.

"This is business as usual," Sean McFate, adjunct professor in the Maxwell-in-Washington program, tells Federal Times. "It’s a form of corruption, essentially. It’s a well-known problem without a solution."