"There is always higher turnout in a presidential election year, but what that will mean in any given district is less clear," says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. 

"The conventions this year might actually be more important than in relatively recent years past since the campaigns are very constrained in what they can do in person," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. "Those in-person events would normally drive a lot of the media coverage in the last few months of the campaign. But that is only if people watch the conventions."

"Disability, obesity, and poor mental health all affect our long-term economic sustainability and social well-being. The underlying causes of many of these issues are deeply connected," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "Social scientists are in a prime position to identify underlying social, economic, and policy-related mechanisms, and strategies to mitigate them."

The eight essays include historical background and trends to explain the legacy of voters' choices in November. Also included in this edition are stories on historian David Bennett's 50-year-plus career, a new scholarship fund geared towards retention, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The biggest risk" with Republicans following best public health practices and wearing masks, "is that the president will pick you out for ridicule, or if you had someone running against you, the president would endorse that person," says Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science. 

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, says that while Trump had said much worse than Biden in terms of "levels of offensiveness or levels of insensitivity or thoughtlessness," the peril for the Democrat lay in a somewhat different area. "It is less clear that Biden is saying those things on purpose." 

 Daniel McDowell, associate professor of political science, argues that that the more the U.S. wields its unmatched financial power, the less it may have left.

"I think Trump is a little afraid that this triumph of his will be hung around his neck, but more purchases and a bit of a delay would clearly help," says Mary Lovely, professor of economics.

"Despite the historic nature of her career and vice presidential nomination, we can’t lose our capacity to remain critical of her record and uncertain about how her potential vice presidency might affect marginalized communities," writes Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

Changyong Choi ’11 Ph.D. (SSc) has been appointed to the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management as a faculty in international development and public policy.

Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history and expert in Middle East affairs, says he views the announcement of the deal as an attempt to boost Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu, who both face intense political headwinds over their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters.

"If time is a political resource of value," says Elizabeth Cohen, professor political science, "then anything you can do to force people to spend their time on what you want them to do, not the work they would want to do, is effective." 

"Trump knows this is an important, wealthy group, and I’m sure that’s why he’s seeking their support," says Prema Kurien, professor of sociology, of Trump's courting of the Indian American vote.

Paul Arras ’04 B.A. (Hist)/’11 M.A. (Hist)/’16 Ph.D. (Hist) has written a book titled "Seinfeld: A Cultural History." The book explores the history of the still-popular late-1990s sitcom Seinfeld—how the show’s ideas are woven into popular thought and behavior, and how it challenged previous conventions of television comedy.

Jeremy Ames ’04 M.P.A. is the new director of the Division of Communications in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Regulatory Affairs, which leads FDA field activities, inspecting regulated products and manufacturers, analyzing samples of regulated products, and reviewing products imported into the United States.

Scott Rayder ’92 M.P.A. is the new executive director of the Alabama Water Institute (AWI), based at the University of Alabama. As executive director, Rayder will facilitate collaboration with the National Water Center, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center located on the University of Alabama campus. 

Fred Carriere, research professor of political science, says that one of the major impediments to getting countries to denuclearize, whether the U.S., North Korea or Iran, is that "everybody always wants everything up front, with the promise that good things will follow later on, but few will ever be able to accept this strategy."