Maxwell School News and Commentary

"Anti-SAFE Act signs still dot the upstate countryside...That speaks to the 'cultural differences' that often lead to very different voting patterns in upstate and downstate communities," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about Upstate New York opposition to Governor Cuomo's gun-control law.

“More information cannot easily be provided (to) the public—the classification is required to preserve the secrecy of the sources and methods we used to learn about the hacking,” says William Banks, professor of public administration and international affairs. “It creates a dilemma that is difficult to resolve.”

Don Dutkowsky, professor of economics, notes that doctorates in economics have thrived due to the expansive job market available in economics both inside and outside of academia. Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, professor of economics, adds that an increase in economic majors has yielded a higher demand for economics instructors, opening up doors for economics doctorates where they are closing in other fields of study.

Corri Zoli, research director for the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism, thinks there will be a significant return to the default mode of deterrence under Trump.

Elizabeth Cohen, professor of political science, says it won't be easy for Trump to withhold money from sanctuary cities as there are numerous conditions, privacy laws and civil rights protections he will need to navigate.

"To some degree... both [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Donald Trump] sought to mobilize their potential followers and defeat their adversaries as one waged a struggle for civil rights for African Americans and the other for winning a national presidential election," says Louis Kriesberg, professor emeritus of sociology.

Given how nasty and intractable the conflicts in our society can be, Keith Bybee, professor of political science, argues that it is naïve to imagine we can somehow transcend our clashing sets of values and miraculously agree on what counts as acceptable behavior and tolerable opinion.

University Professor Sean O'Keefe notes that there will always be tensions that accompany presidential transitions.