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Q&A: Assoc. Prof. Christopher Berry discusses rise of women in Congress

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2012Politicscharisma, Chicago, christopher berry, congress, congresswomen, federal aid, federal projects, female, fiscal cliff, harris school, healthcare reform, house, hurricane sandy, job performance, legislation, male counterpart, nov election, number, partisan gaps, politicians, President Obama, public policy, representatives, university, us senate, us senators, women

One of the most notable outcomes of the Nov. 6 election was the record number of women voted into Congress, including 20 women who will occupy seats in the U.S. Senate.

Christopher Berry, associate professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, recently discussed the effects of the increase in female U.S. senators. Berry co-authored a 2011 study that found congresswomen consistently outperform their male counterparts on several measures of job performance.

What implications will the increase of female representation have for the U.S. Senate?

Potentially of great interest to the constituents of the new female senators is our finding that they consistently bring home more federal projects and federal aid than their male counterparts. When you think about disasters like Hurricane Sandy, the ability to bring home federal aid for rebuilding efforts is really important. It is going to be good for their constituents and the states they represent. (more…)

Prewar Citizen Complaints to Government Explored in ‘This is Not Civil Rights’

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2012Politicscitizen complaint letters, citizen mail, civil rights, federal rights, rights protections, rights talk

George Lovell, UW associate professor of political science, is the author of “This Is Not Civil Rights: Discovering Rights Talk in 1939 America,” published in October by University of Chicago Press. He answered a few questions about his book for UW Today. (more…)

China and the Internet

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2012Media, Politics, Technologyatmosphere, blogger, China, china forum, chinese farmer, chinese life, chinese society, delaware, double edged knife, earthquake, east china, Facebook, false information, gap, governmental control, immunity, internet, internet companies, internet users, joseph chen, journalist, li gang, li qiming, mobile devices, netizens, normal university, nuclear pollution, number, poems online, poetry contest, poor, popular activities, public opinion, renren inc, rich, sanjiu yan, shanghai, site, Social networking, social tension, Twitter, university, university student, urban areas, weibo, weibo today

Internet bringing change to Chinese society, China Forum speaker says

The Internet is affecting every facet of Chinese life and shaping public opinion, according to Sanjiu Yan, the guest speaker at the inaugural China Forum, held Friday, Oct. 26, at the University of Delaware.

Yan, a former journalist who is now the dean of the College of Communication at East China Normal University in Shanghai, presented the first talk in the China Forum, a new monthly lecture series hosted by the Confucius Institute at UD. (more…)

Half of Texans Prefer Faith over Science, According to UT/Texas Tribune Poll

By Guest PostNovember 2, 2012Politicsabortion, academics, austin, birth control, contemporary politics, daron shaw, democratic party, faith, gun control, ideology, james henson, manhattan project, methodology, partisan difference, polarization, political divisions, politicians, poll result, public policy, republican party, scientific evidence, scientists, survey, texas, texas politics project, texas voters, tribune poll, university

AUSTIN, Texas — About half of Texas voters believe faith is a better guide than scientific evidence on most important questions, according to a recent University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll.

According to the poll, which surveyed Texans on a wide range of attitudes related to science and public policy, a similar proportion of voters said that “instinct and gut reactions” are just as good as the advice of scientists in most cases.

However, 66 percent of voters said politicians, when faced with a difficult decision, should follow the advice of relevant experts, even if it means going against their ideology. (more…)

The Fed and Interest Rates: Biased Toward the GOP?

By Guest PostNovember 1, 2012Politicsbill clinton, counter intuitive, democrat, election, fed, federal funds rates, federal reserve bank, fiscal, george bush, government, independent bank, jared wadley, michigan, monetary policies, partisan bias, party, policy behaviour, presidential election, republican, right wing, study, university, vincent are bundock, White House, william clark

ANN ARBOR — With the elections less than a week away, it’s worth considering that the party of the president influences the policy behavior of the Federal Reserve Bank, according to a new University of Michigan study.

The Federal Reserve Bank increases interest rates before the presidential elections when Democrats are in office, but lowers the rates when Republicans control the White House. The independent bank finds it easier to accomplish its policy goals when Republicans control the White House than when Democrats do, the researchers say. (more…)

A New Vision of Democratic Individualism in ‘Awakening to Race’

By Guest PostOctober 29, 2012Culture, Politicsamerica, american history, awakening, black, brown candidate, Chicago, education, fha, home mortgage, inequality, investment risk, jack turner, jim crow, new deal, one generation, political science, race, racial justice, social consciousness, social goods, success, united states, university, uw today, white families, white supremacy

Jack Turner, UW assistant professor of political science, is the author of “Awakening to Race: Individualism and Social Consciousness in America,” published this month by University of Chicago Press. He answered a few questions about his book for UW Today.

What’s the central concept behind “Awakening to Race”?

The book addresses the challenge of racial justice by asking, “What does it mean to be a self-aware human being? What does it mean to be awake to reality?”

In part, it means confronting the worst aspects of ourselves and our lives. Being awake to reality in the United States means confronting the ways America’s history of slavery, Jim Crow and white supremacy still shapes the present — the opportunities we have or we lack, the confidence we have in ourselves or fail to have in others, the ways our chances for success are still color coded. (more…)

For Presidential Candidates, Image May Trump Debate Issues

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2012Politicsaudience, Barack Obama, candidate, celebrity, Chicago, culture, debate, elocution, gaffes, george bush, grammar, image, impression, indiana university, john kerry, linguistic anthropologist, logan cente, massachusetts gov, message, michael lempert, michael silverstein, mitt romney, modern campaign, political life, political marketing, politician, Politics, power grip, president, presidential candidate, press, republican opponent, tmzization, university, voyeurism

The wide swings in debate performances by this year’s presidential candidates reflect the fact that in modern campaigns, a candidate’s image is the message, according to linguistic anthropologists who have studied presidential campaigns.

Candidates send important messages to voters through even their smallest gestures, the researchers say. For example, in this year’s first debate, President Barack Obama often looked down at the podium and was criticized for appearing disengaged. In subsequent debates Obama directly addressed his Republican opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and increased the use of a hammering hand gesture sometimes called the “power grip.” (more…)

Racial ‘Hierarchy of Bias’ Drives Decision to Shoot Armed, Unarmed Suspects, CU-Boulder Study Finds

By Guest PostOctober 25, 2012Politicsafrican american, asians, behavior, bernadette park, bias, black men, blacks, boulder, cell phone, charles judd, Chicago, colorado, cultural stereotype, dangerous, ethnic environment, ethnic group, florida, hierarchy, hispanics, joshua correll, jurisdiction, multi, new mexico, police officer, positive bias, russell sage foundation, san diego, shoot, state university, students, suspects, university, Washington, whites, young

Police officers and students exhibit an apparent “hierarchy of bias” in making a split-second decision whether to shoot suspects who appear to be wielding a gun or, alternatively, a benign object like a cell phone, research conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder and San Diego State University has found.

Both the police and student subjects were most likely to shoot at blacks, then Hispanics, then whites and finally, in a case of what might be called a positive bias, Asians, researchers found. (more…)

Category Archives: Politics

What implications will the increase of female representation have for the U.S. Senate?