VUCast Election Special
The morning after... Vanderbilt's political science pundits to the world discuss the historic presidential election of Barack Obama.
Who are the better managers -- political appointees or career bureaucrats?, Washington Post, 11/23/08
One school of thought argues that lots of political appointees can sweep away bureaucratic cobwebs. The other suggests that appointees mostly get in the way of the career professionals who really know how to make government work. David Lewis, professor of political science, is quoted.
Leahy moves up D.C. power ladder, Burlington Free Press (Vt.), 11/22/08
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is poised to claim a position of enhanced power in Washington, D.C., in 2009, thanks to the outcome of elections in which he was not even a candidate. Bruce Oppenheimer, professor of political science, is quoted.
Tennessee is already talking governor, The Tennessean, 11/23/08
Not even a month has passed since Election Day, but Tennesseans' eyes are already turning to the 2010 gubernatorial race, which has been a topic of speculation for months. Former Sen. Bill Frist, who is scheduled to teach a course on health care and business at Owen Graduate School of Management next semester, will not comment on his future plans yet.
More election news >
John Geer
Presidential Elections, Campaigns, Polling, Attack Ads, Civility in Politics
Geer, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, has written extensively on presidential campaigns, including articles on incivility in campaigns and the impact of negative campaigning on voter participation. His most recent book, In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns, analyzes negative ads during the 1960-2004 presidential campaigns. He also wrote From Tea Leaves to Opinion Polls and Nominating Presidents. Geer and Visiting Professor Harold Ford Jr. recently taught two courses on the presidential nomination process. In addition, Geer co-taught a class about the impact of genetics on political choices. Geer and Bruce Oppenheimer are the lead professors for a fall class on the 2008 presidential and congressional elections.
Listen to InterVU with Geer and Bruce Oppenheimer on attack ads
Listen to That's Vanderbilt with Geer and David Bader on interplay between genes and politics
Read op-ed by Geer on the nomination process
Watch video of Geer discussing the 2008 presidential race
Watch video of Geer discussing negative ads
Phone: 615-343-5746, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: john.g.geer@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: www.vanderbilt.edu/psci/johngeer
Bruce Oppenheimer
Congress, Legislative Process, Political Parties, Elections
Oppenheimer, professor of political science, teaches and writes about congressional elections, legislative process and political parties. He co-authored the award-winning book Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation. He is co-editor of Congress Reconsidered, now in its eighth edition, and has researched the impact of "hometown" war casualties on voting trends in traditional GOP districts. In the fall Oppenheimer will co-teach a course on the 2008 presidential and congressional elections. He is a former fellow and guest scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Listen to InterVU with Oppenheimer and John Geer on attack ads
Listen to inteview with Oppenheimer on Fred Thompson
Phone: 615-322-6232, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: bruce.i.oppenheimer@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: www.vanderbilt.edu/psci/oppenheimer
Carol Swain
Immigration, African American Representation, Black Leadership, Reparations, White Nationalism, Race and Public Policy, Affirmative Action, Voting Rights Act
Swain, professor of law and political science, is the editor and contributor to a newly published book of essays titled Debating Immigration. In the book, Swain talks about the impact of immigration on African Americans. Swain is also the author of the highly acclaimed book Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress, which won the 1994 Woodrow Wilson prize for the best book on government published in the United States and The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration. Swain teaches a law course on “Race, Gender and Representation in the Political Process.” She is an authority on voting rights law and is frequently consulted on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Swain was recently confirmed by the Senate to a term on the National Council on the Humanities.
Phone: 615-322-1001, News Service: 615-322-2706
Email: carol.swain@law.vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://www.carolmswain.net
Christian Grose
Congressional Elections, Campaigns, Legislative Process, Congress
Grose, assistant professor of political science, primarily focuses on American government and politics, especially Congress, campaigns, Southern politics, and the effect of race in elections. He has studied the impact of caucuses on the presidential nomination process and the presidential selection of cabinet secretaries. Grose co-authored "The Iraq War, Partisanship and Candidate Attributes: Explaining Variation in Partisan Swing in the 2006 U.S. House Elections" and "The Valance Advantage of Presidential Persuasion: Do Presidential Candidates Use Oratory to Persuade Citizens to Vote Contrary to Ideological Preferences?" He also wrote "Cues, Endorsements and Heresthetic in a High-Profile Election: Racial Polarization in Durham, North Carolina?" an analysis of Durham D.A. Mike Nifong's 2006 election.
Phone: 615-322-6242, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: christian.grose@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/psci/faculty#grose
Erwin Hargrove
American Politics, Presidency
Hargrove, professor of political science, emeritus, is an expert on the American presidency and political leadership. In his latest book, The Effective Presidency, Hargrove analyzes the effectiveness of America's eight most recent presidents. Previous books include The President as Leader: Appealing to the Better Angels of Our Nature, The Future of the Democratic Left in Industrial Democracies (edited) and Prisoners of Myth: The Leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority, 1933-90. Hargrove recently taught a senior seminar on the modern presidency.
Listen to "That's Vanderbilt" interview with Hargrove on the American presidency.
News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: erwin.c.hargrove@vanderbilt.edu
Thomas Schwartz
American Foreign Policy, International Relations, Middle East, Vietnam War, History of U.S. Presidency
Schwartz , professor of history, can discuss America’s current foreign policy regarding Iraq and the Middle East and U.S. efforts to contain the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. He has done extensive research on the making of American foreign policy, the role of alliance politics and domestic politics in U.S. foreign policy, “nation-building” and efforts to promote democracy in post-World War II Germany and Japan. He has a strong interest in the modern presidency and has written Lyndon Johnson and Europe: In the Shadow of Vietnam and America’s Germany, both published by Harvard University Press. He is writing a biography of Henry Kissinger that is tentatively titled Henry Kissinger and the Dilemmas of American Power. Schwartz serves as president of the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations and is the representative of the Organization of American Historians on the State Department's Historical Advisory Committee. He has been an historical consultant for Winston DuPont Films of New York and the Marshall Plan Film Project of Arlington, Va.
Phone: 615-343-4328, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: thomas.a.schwartz@vanderbilt.edu
Vanessa Beasley
Politcal rhetoric, media and politics
Beasley, associate professor of communication studies, has expertise in the rhetoric of American presidents, political rhetoric on immigration, and media and politics. She can discuss campaign speeches as well as how political campaign strategists must take into consideration the expanding forms of media covering the candidates, including blogs and participatory/collaborative Web sites. In addition, she has a strong interest in gender, race and ethnic diversity in conteporary U.S. politics, including the rhetoric surrounding Hillary Clinton's historic run for the White House. Beasley, a Vanderbilt graduate who previously taught at the University of Georgia, can critique the performances of McCain and Obama during debates and other campaign events.
Read Beasley's take on the CNN/YouTube debate.
Phone: 615-322-3460
E-mail: vanessa.b.beasley@vanderbilt.edu
Gary Gerstle
Politics, Immigration, Race, Labor
Gerstle, the James Stahlman Professor of History, is a 20th century American historian who teaches and writes about immigration, ethnicity, nationality and the American experience. He has a strong interest in how the United States reconstitutes itself periodically to accommodate the needs and desires of newcomers. His books include American Crucible: Race and Nation i n the 20th Century (Princeton University Press), which received the Theodore Saloutos Memorial Book Award for outstanding book on U.S. immigration and ethnic history in 2001, and The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, 1930-1980. His current book projects are titled Race, Diversity, and the American Presidency from Theodore Roosevelt to George. W. Bush and Governing America: Public Power from the Revolution to the Present. He is also writing "George W. Bush's Vision of a Multicultural America and Why It Failed," to be published in Historical Essays on the Bush Era (Princeton University Press, 2009). Gerstle has testified on Capitol Hill about the integration of current immigrants into American society.
Phone: 615-322-5950, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: gary.gerstle@vanderbilt.edu
Dan Cornfield
Immigration’s Impact on “New Destination Cities”
Cornfield, professor of sociology and acting director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies, can talk about how “new destination cities” in the interior states are dealing with integrating documented and undocumented immigrants into their communities. While cities like New York, Miami, Chicago and Houston have historically been at the forefront of immigration issues, Cornfield says the “formerly secluded” interior states are now dealing with immigration’s implications for social services, health care, employment and the prospects for unionization. Cornfield led an immigration study looking at Nashville, Tenn., one of the new destination cities, during which researchers surveyed service providers and members of immigrant communities in cities of comparable size to Nashville – Atlanta, Charlotte, N.C., and Memphis.
Phone: 615-322-7535, 615-322-7626, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: daniel.b.cornfield@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/sociology/cornfield
Marc Hetherington
Political Party Polarization, Presidential Elections, Political Parties, Public Opinion Polls, Trust in Government, Media and Politics
Hetherington, associate professor of political science, can discuss party polarization, presidential elections, public opinion polls, media coverage during a campaign, anti-government campaign rhetoric and how trust in government affects elections and public policy. Hetherington, author of the book Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism, has a new one in the works titled Divided We Stand: Authority, Morality and the Polarization of American Politics.
Listen to InterVU with Hetherington on the Democratic primaries.
Phone: 615-322-6240, News Service: 625-322-2706
E-mail: marc.j.hetherington@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://sitemason.vanderbilt.edu/psci/faculty#hetherington
James Auer
North Korea, Japan, East Asian Defense Policies
Auer, director of the Center for U.S.-Japan Studies at Vanderbilt and retired naval commander, can discuss North Korea’s military threats to Japan and the U.S. Auer was stationed in Japan and the Western Pacific during his naval career and was the special assistant on Japan with the office of the Secretary of Defense. He has written numerous articles and made a number of presentations addressing East Asian security and defense policies. He is co-author of “Japan: America's New South Korea?" published in the journal Current History.
Phone: 615-343-6980, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: james.e.auer@vanderbilt.edu
Omar H. Ali
Independent Voters, Black Politics, Youth and Elections
Ali, assistant professor in the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies, teaches a seminar on the history of independent and third party movements in the United States. He is the author of In the Balance of Power: Independent Black Politics and Third Party Movements in the United States (Ohio University Press, 2008). The new book explains the growth of political independence in the American electorate, with an emphasis on African Americans. Ali, who received his doctorate from Columbia University, has served as an editor for Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society.
Phone: 212-226-5712, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: omarhali@vanderbilt.edu
Melissa Snarr
Religion and War, Religion and Social Movements, Religion and Politics, Ethics
Snarr, assistant professor of ethics and society, studies the intersection of religion, social change and social/political ethics. She teaches courses ranging from “Religion and War in an Age of Terror” to “Religion and Social Movements” to “Christian Political Thought.” She argues that both Democrats and Republicans misunderstand the religious community in America, and could improve their election results by considering the issue with more care. She has researched the alliance of religion and labor in the living wage movement, and is currently studying the United Nations and avenues for global peacemaking from a religious perspective. She is an expert on ethics.
Phone: 615-322-2776, News Service: 615-322-2706
Email: melissa.snarr@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/gradschool/religion/faculty/facultypages/snarr.html
James W. Guthrie
Education Public Policy, Administration, Reform, Finance
Guthrie, professor of public policy and education; director, Center for Education Policy at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, is a widely published authority on education policy, finance and governance. He is concerned with school finance, both K-12 and higher education; legal issues of equity and adequacy; education reform strategies; educational accountability; political processes and education; and education reform theories. He has been a high school science teacher and administrator, and was twice publicly elected to the board of education in Berkeley, Calif. He was employed by the California and New York state education departments, served as an education specialist for the U.S. Senate and was a special assistant to the assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. He is author or co-author of 10 books and more than 200 professional and scholarly articles.
Phone: 615-322-7372, News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: james.w.guthrie@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x1467.xml
Camilla Benbow
Improving America’s Competitiveness in Math and Science
Benbow, Patricia and Rodes Hart Dean of Education and Human Development at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, was appointed in May 2006 as vice chair of President Bush’s new National Mathematics Advisory Panel to improve the nation’s competitiveness in math and science. A member of the National Science Board and an educational psychologist, Benbow's research focuses on gifted education and the development of mathematical talent. With her husband, David Lubinski, Benbow co-directs the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, a study examining the development of more than 5,000 people throughout their lives. Benbow has led Vanderbilt’s Peabody College, ranked by U.S. News and World Report as the No. 2 education school in the nation in 2008.
Phone: 615-322-8407; News Service: 615-322-2706
E-mail: camilla.benbow@vanderbilt.edu
Bio: http://peabody.vanderbilt.edu/x457.xml
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