Campbell Institute News

According to Margaret S. Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, some religious congregations may leave their buildings, but other groups can replace them, often representing groups that are new or growing in the community.

"The goals of nativist enclave policies and a robust job-creating economy are fundamentally at odds with one another. A full-throated embrace of nativism at this point will mean that we are walling ourselves inside our nation only to discover that we have walled in the very people that enclave nativists sought to eject," writes Elizabeth Cohen, professor of political science.

“The moon program looks more and more like an astounding aberration in the American political context. The space station does show it’s feasible to have a long-term program, but it has to be maintained by a sequence of presidents and a sequence of NASAs. And that’s the dilemma,” says Professor Harry Lambright.

"These are the folks who actually attempt to implement the policy changes that the administration is trying to push down from above," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, about the importance of political appointees below the Cabinet level.

"In response to the climate crisis we face, our leaders must not continue to merely say 'no' to climate policies proposed by others, or to hope, as we have for decades, for an unforeseeable technological breakthrough that will render fossil fuels uneconomical," write eleven scientists and professors from SUNY ESF and Syracuse University.

 According to Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher, progressives will have to sustain the movement to the midterm elections of 2018 if they want to enact fundamental change. "The question from here on in is how sustainable will this be," Reeher said. "What will this look like a year from now?"

“It is in the government’s interest to do everything possible to avoid any appearance that rights violations are being permitted or encouraged,” says Elizabeth Cohen, professor of political science.

“Trump is not reading judicial decisions and criticizing constitutional arguments. He is denouncing a so-called judge and saying decisions are ridiculous. Those pointed attacks from a sitting president are for sure unusual," says Thomas M. Keck, professor of political science.

The recently announced two-year funding extension will support a total of four additional Robertson fellows. All Robertson fellows receive funding for two years of study, allowing them to pursue one of the joint degrees offered through the Public Administration and International Affairs Department. 

Tom Keck was featured in The Daily Orange article, "SU political science professor evaluates President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee." "(Gorsuch) has also publicly praised Justice Scalia and indicated his hope to follow in his footsteps," he says, and notes that many Democrats and independents are unhappy with the nomination.

Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, compares the volume of leaks coming out of the Trump administration to the Nixon administration and its handling of the Watergate scandal.

According to Professor of Political Science Grant Reeher, President Donald Trump "is doubling down, and I think the reaction on the part of those who are not favorably oriented toward him is going to harden.”

"Since the 1940s we've been not only recruiting nurses from other countries but actually in some cases getting people into training abroad and then bringing them to America," says Elizabeth Cohen, associate professor of political science. "This H-1B shift could really reduce the population of highly skilled doctors and nurses."

“She has no expertise or experience in the educational world,” Kristi Andersen, professor emerita of political science, says. “She has not been a teacher, she has not been an administrator, she has not been a policymaker, she has not worked for an educational think tank and she has not written about education.”

Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science, says Republican opposition to climate change evidence and advocacy is not new. What's different now, she says, is that "they have a bigger platform and megaphone in the voice of Donald Trump" and the executive power to disrupt federal scientists' work.

Margaret S. Thompson, associate professor of history and political science, believes the nearly 3 million women and men who came out to Women's Marches nationwide will impact the future. “If even 10% of those actually become actively involved, in talking with their representative and lobbying for policies that they think are important, we’re going to see some remarkable change.”

University Professor Sean O’Keefe says that the new administration faces challenges such as standardizing information technology, the consequences of budget decisions and talent acquisition.