Ex-President Bill Clinton’s sex legacy is still haunting. Even early January this year a Sunday Times journalist Iain Dey, based in New York, was investigating an alleged victim of Bill Clinton, Kathleen Willey, one of the women who has accused President Clinton of sexually assault for many years, as leaked Podesta emails revealed. (more…)
Ralina Joseph, associate professor of communications, is the author of “Transcending Blackness: From the New Millennium Mulatta to the Exceptional Multiracial,” published by Duke University Press. She answered a few questions about the book for UW Today.
Q. What’s the concept behind this book?
A. “Transcending Blackness” is about mixed-race African-American representations in the 10 years leading up to Obama’s election in 2008. (more…)
University of Maryland School of Public Policy Dean Don Kettl on where the fiscal cliff negotiations head after Plan B fails:
“For the Republicans, this is a very weak situation. They’re struggling to get their mojo back after the election. It’s very clear they don’t know which way to go and they aren’t willing to follow anyone to get them there.
For the Democrats, there will be a powerful temptation to allow the Republicans to swing in the wind. It’s hard to beat something with nothing, and right now the Republicans have nothing to bring to the table. The Democrats will surely enjoy watching this for a few days, and watching the approval ratings of the House Republicans drop a few more notches. (more…)
John Wilkerson, University of Washington professor of political science, is the co-author with E. Scott Adler of the University of Colorado of a new book titled “Congress and the Politics of Problem Solving,” published in December by Cambridge University Press. Wilkerson answered a few questions about the book for UW Today.
Q: What is the central concept behind your new book?
A: We argue that members of Congress care about solving problems in society and that their electoral success partly depends upon their collective performance as a problem solving institution.
Q: You and your co-author state in press notes that your book “offers a glass half-full rather than a glass half-empty perspective on lawmaking.” Can you explain?
Understandably, the media, scholars and the public tend to be more attentive to political conflict (especially partisan conflict) than to political cooperation. Yet on most issues, including the most important issues, consensus and cooperation are the norm within Congress. (more…)
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Support for gay marriage is growing in Michigan, mirroring changing attitudes in many parts of the United States, according to Michigan State University’s State of the State Survey.
A recent survey found that 56 percent of the state’s residents support gay marriage while 39 percent oppose it. Two years ago, 48 percent supported gay marriage and 51 percent were opposed. (more…)
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…)
Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the UA communication department, is studying the 2012 election using talking points, Twitter feeds and also jokes.
Election season is to politics-watchers as tax season is to accountants. There are polls to follow, debates to dissect and political ads to analyze.
For Kate Kenski, an associate professor in the University of Arizona communication department and School of Government and Public Policy, election season provides a wealth of data that she analyzes to write and teach about public opinion and political communication.
For the 2012 election, Kenski is keeping a keen eye on whether the frequent explanations for wins and losses in previous campaigns hold true for this campaign. Will the economy be the determining factor? Or will candidate personality or message strategy tip the campaign in one candidate’s direction over the other’s? (more…)
An online study of eligible voters around the country revealed that preferences for whites over blacks among the least politically-partisan voters are strong enough to have substantial impact on their presidential candidate preference.
Among these voters, race biases against Barack Obama could produce as much as a 20 percent gap in the popular vote in a contest that would otherwise be equal. (more…)
