Politics and Government

“Many scholars have studied various aspects of mail-in voting, looking at how secure it is, how susceptible to fraud it might be, and what voting officials need to do to handle an influx of ballots arriving by mail,” writes Jeff Inglis, The Conversation’s politics + society editor. Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, and Charlotte Hill, of the University of California Berkeley, are referenced.

Daniel Bessner, who holds the Joff Hanauer Honors Professorship in Western Civilization, is the featured commentator in a CNN story about whether the U.S. should impose age limits on elected leaders.

Mark Alan Smith, professor of political science at the UW, talks about polling in the 2016 election and what it can tell us about the 2020 election. 

“Democrats project the image of one big happy pro-climate family, united against a common foe. This has fed the expectation that the Biden administration will transform U.S. climate policy. Trump turned the climate action switch off, but Biden will turn it back on,” write Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW.

Amy Coney Barrett is facing the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, and as with many nominees, it’s difficult to get a sense of the future legal implications of her answers. Should the process be changed? Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW, is interviewed.

Alicia Ing graduated from Renton High School as part of the class of 2020 and is studying at the University of Washington. Alicia is 18 years old and getting ready to vote in her first presidential election.

Daniel Chirot, professor of international studies at the UW, talks about whether radical upheavals in the social and political order must end in tragedy and disappointment on the “Thinking Out Loud” podcast.

"Facebook and Twitter have already removed dozens of Russian accounts spreading disinformation. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the problem is far worse this year than in 2016. He blames the increase in foreign trolling for Trump on the weak U.S. response to the ongoing threat. Yet that’s not the whole story. No matter how cunning the trolls or relentless the bots, Russia could not reasonably expect to achieve meaningful results in the absence of an already receptive audience," write Scott Livingston at George Washington University and W. Lance Bennett, professor emeritus of political science at the UW.

Jonathan Kanter, research associate professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted, and Mavis Tsai, senior research scientist of psychology at the UW, is referenced.

“The vice presidential debate was deemed ‘civil.’ But civil does not mean it was fair. As long as interruptions are rewarded and seen as standard behavior, as they were in both the vice presidential and the presidential debates, many women will be disadvantaged in politics,” write Sapna Cheryan, professor of psychology at the UW, and Laura Vianna, a graduate student in psychology at the UW.

Katherine Beckett, professor of sociology and of laws, societies and justice, is quoted.

James Long, associate professor of political science at the UW, says we'd be losing an important part of the political process if the debates were canceled.

Aseem Prakash, professor of political science, explains Amazon's "Climate Pledge Friendhly" label and whether it'll impact online shopping.

How climate change and U.S.-China relations could affect the 2020 elections were top of mind last week at a University of Washington presentation. The presentation was given by Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, and Susan Whiting, an associate professor of political science at the UW.

Political Science faculty member James Long launched a podcast focused on election security, featuring experts from the UW and elsewhere.