Maxwell School News and Commentary

“Calling Biden’s decision a ‘coup’ does not clarify anything about all of this. It does not accurately reflect any part of what has happened here,” says Matthew Cleary, associate professor of political science.

Keith Bybee, professor of political science, says 6-3 rulings such as the immunity decision make the court appear more partisan in its decision-making. “But also, this majority is quite emboldened,” he says, rendering decisions that are “quite sweeping and overturn decades-old precedents” such as in the case of abortion.

“They [delegates] themselves are part of the party apparatus,“ says Shana Gadarian, professor of political science. “As with everything in politics in the United States, everything comes from the states. Occasionally you see a delegate make an individual decision and decide to vote for somebody else but that's pretty rare.”

Matthew Huber, professor of geography and the environment, highlights the infrastructural advantage France has to promote sustainability. “France is known for having one of the most decarbonized electric grids in the world because they have about 70% of their electricity coming from nuclear power, which is zero carbon energy,” Huber says.

“It sounds like they are going full force into campaign mode and are trying to play up the prosecutor versus the felon, the future versus the past, so you're starting to see some themes emerge,” says Christopher Faricy, professor of political science. 

“It was a pivotal moment,” Kristen Patel, Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs, says of President George W. Bush's targeting of a North Korean bank in 2003. “Treasury got the go-ahead to start pounding things with this hammer.”

“NATO’s priorities and the business community's priorities are not well aligned in Europe, North America or South Korea,” says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

“Harris will likely reinvigorate the energy and enthusiasm behind the campaign—one can feel that already,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “The early fundraising is a good sign for her.”

“The Trump organization is a family business, but once he took office the first time, and then you could really see that he brought that into the political realm and into the White House,” says Natalie Koch, professor of geography and the environment.

Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, says that Biden’s endorsement of Kamala Harris means she will more than likely be the Democratic nominee in the November election. “Already we are hearing a lot of calls for unity, statements of enthusiasm, and a lot of speculation frankly about who might be the vice president. But I do not see a lot of noise around the candidate at the top,” she says.