Maxwell School News and Commentary

"He [Jeff Sessions] has set DACA in his sights and this is likely not the last anti-immigrant gesture he will make as Attorney General," says Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor of political science.

"And while the militia movement has largely rejected its once–prevalent anti-Semitism, virulent Islamophobia has replaced it. Militias often list Islam (or “radical Islam”) as one of the three biggest threats America faces...which could lead to tyranny," writes Sam Jackson '16 M.A. (PSc), a Ph.D. candidate in social science.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, conducted an interview with Syracuse's three democratic candidates for mayor in the party's primary. Reeher attempted multiple times to get each candidate to articulate how they differed on policy positions from each other, with little success.

Michael Barkun, professor emeritus of political science, established three core beliefs that allow conspiracy theories to thrive: nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and dots can always be connected. This framework was used by the author to explain persisting conspiracy theories about Princess Diana.

"Here’s the big lesson from Hurricane Harvey: The U.S. government’s flood zone designation, and the maps based on it, may not predict future flood risks accurately, particularly as climate change alters sea levels and weather patterns," writes Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. 

“This is a tremendously costly endeavor, and that’s why we haven’t done it already,” says Pete Wilcoxen, director of the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration, about revising the EPA's model for evaluating the broad economic costs and benefits of air pollution regulations.

Patents have generally been ignored by map historians, says Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor of Geography,  but they reveal a lot about how people have used maps over the years. He found that like many discoveries and inventions, patents for similar ideas seemed to spring up independently around the same time—a phenomenon known as the theory of multiple discoveries.

"It is very important to deal very carefully with North Korea," says Robert Murrett, deputy director of the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism. "They are [a] less rational actor than other international players."

“[President Trump] has got to go there, and he has got to go there while the problem is still extreme, while the place is still in a state of crisis,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science.