Maxwell School News and Commentary

Unlike the well-oiled machinery of the right, left-leaning partisan organizations struggle to define their message because the party itself is “so diverse in its makeup,” says Johanna Dunaway, professor of political science. “Democrats have a lot more of a big tent party,” she says. “It’s harder to have a consistent party platform and messaging.”

As parents age, “there’s a lot of negotiation and uncertainties,” says Merril Silverstein, Marjorie Cantor Endowed Professor in Aging. “Who has the right to make decisions for stepparents becomes murky.” Such families can experience what’s called “role ambiguity,” he says, creating doubts about “what the social expectations are.”

“It pretty clear and consistent across lots of polls that public support for the court itself has been tanking,” says Thomas Keck, Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics. “So, in theory, that creates some space for a capable political leader to speak to those concerns.”

“Harris also has some of the traits that a lot of Democrats were looking for,” says Grant Reeher, professor of political science. “Her early performance has been good, and she's picking up some good endorsements. The money is coming in. All this has been widely reported in the press, which furthers the impression of new viability.”

“He drew into question so many people's backgrounds and identities that he ended up alienating so many groups of people who you would think he would've gone to the NABJ conference to actually bring under his umbrella to vote for him,” says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.

“Putin wanted to bring home a Russian assassin...and other spies, to show people who work in the Russian intelligence services that their government will try to bring them home if they get caught. The U.S. government and its allies wanted to free innocent people being held hostage in Russian prisons,” says Brian Taylor, professor of political science.

The study, “States’ COVID-19 Restrictions were Associated with Increases in Drug Overdose Deaths in 2020,” was co-authored by Douglas Wolf, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, and published in the American Journal of Public Health.

“We can show the overlapping of areas of lead poisoning with poor educational performance, with teen pregnancy, with entry into the criminal justice system, and so on. So there's a whole set of ramifications,” says Robert Rubinstein, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology.

Professor of Geography and the Environment Farhana Sultana, concerned about how her work may be repurposed, says, “All this occurs while our intellectual property is woefully inadequately compensated, since there is abuse and profit off our mostly free intellectual labor by private corporations reaping profits in the billions of dollars annually from the sale of our books.”

“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.