Political Science Faculty Works

The Presidency of George W. Bush: A First Historical Assessment, ed. Julian E. Zelizer

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:11:11 PST

Gaining and Losing Interest in Running for Public Office: The Concept of Dynamic Political Ambition

Richard L. Fox et al. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:40 PST

Considering a candidacy for public office involves pondering the courageous step of going before an electorate and facing potential examination, scrutiny, and rejection. Anyone who contemplates running for office, therefore, must answer a series of questions. Is the time right to inject my family into the political arena? Where am I in terms of my professional goals? Do I know enough about the issues and the political system to run for office? Am I in sync with my potential constituents on the issues that matter most? Have electoral gatekeepers indicated support for my foray into politics? Do I really want to take part in a political process that is so often associated with self-interest, corruption, and cynicism? In short, a variety of personal, professional, and political circumstances-circumstances that often change over time-undoubtedly affect the extent to which someone considers entering the electoral arena.

If Only They'd Ask: Gender, Recruitment, and Political Ambition

Richard L. Fox et al. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:39 PST

Based on data from the second wave of the Citizen Political Ambition Panel Study-our national survey of more than 2,000 "potential candidates" in 2008-we provide the first thorough analysis of the manner in which gender interacts with political recruitment in the candidate eligibility pool. Our findings are striking. Highly qualified and politically well-connected women from both major political parties are less likely than similarly situated men to be recruited to run for public office by all types of political actors. They are less likely than men to be recruited intensely. And they are less likely than men to be recruited by multiple sources. Although we paint a picture of a political recruitment process that seems to suppress women's inclusion, we also offer the first evidence of the significant headway women's organizations are making in their efforts to mitigate the recruitment gap, especially among Democrats. These findings are critically important because women's recruitment disadvantage depresses their political ambition and ultimately hinders their emergence as candidates.

Studying Gender in U.S. Politics: Where Do We Go from Here?

Richard L. Fox — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:37 PST

Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority, by Robert Mason

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:36 PST

Icons of Democracy - American Leaders as Heroes, Aristocrats, Dissenters, and Democrats, by B. Miroff

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:36 PST

The Modern Theory of Presidential Power: Alexander Hamilton and the Corwin Thesis, by R. Loss

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:34 PST

The Presidency and Public Policy: The Four Arenas of Presidential Power, by R.J. Spitzer

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:33 PST

The War-Making Powers of the President: Constitutional and International Law Aspects, by A.V. Thomas and A.J. Thomas

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:33 PST

War Powers of the President and Congress: Who Holds the Arrows and Olive Branch, by W.T. Reveley

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:32 PST

Treaty Politics and the Rise of Executive Agreements: International Commitments in a System of Shared Powers, by G.S. Kurtz and J.S. Peake

Michael A. Genovese — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:31 PST

Litigating Same-Sex Marriage: Might the Courts Actually Be Bastions of Rationality?

Evan Gerstmann — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:30 PST

The great political philosopher John Stuart Mill once asked, “Was there any domination which did not appear natural to those that possessed it?” (Mill 1984, 269–270). For same-sex couples seeking access to the institution of marriage, the public sense that marriage is naturally and obviously meant only for opposite-sex couples has been a formidable barrier. The first state supreme courts to rule on same-sex marriage, in the early 1970s, simply relied upon dictionary definitions to hold that marriage was obviously a heterosexual institution.¹ Politicians mostly ignored the issue altogether until the courts of Hawaii, Vermont, and Massachusetts forced public debate of the issue.

Controversies in Exit Polling: Implementing a Racially Stratified Homogenous Precinct Approach

Matt A. Barreto et al. — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:29 PST

In November 2000, exit poll interviews with voters in Florida indicated that Al Gore won the state. As a result, many television networks declared Gore the winner of Florida, a pivotal state to winning the presidency in 2000. Only a few hours later, the first vote tallies from the Florida Secretary of State's office revealed that George W. Bush was in fact leading in Florida. After 45 days of recounts and lawsuits, it was clear that the exit polls were wrong; Bush had won the state by the narrowest of margins. As a result of the flawed exit poll the media and pollsters scoured and reanalyzed the methodology used in 2000 to prepare and correct for the 2004 presidential election. The old system, Voter News Service (VNS) was scrapped entirely, and Edison-Mitofsky Research was chosen to implement a new and more accurate national exit poll in 2004 by a consortium of news organizations retained by the Associated Press called the National Election Pool (NEP). What happened? Exit poll results from Edison-Mitofsky showed John Kerry ahead in Ohio, Florida, and New Mexico—all states which he lost to Bush in 2004.^a

The Theological Origins of Modernity, by Michael Allen Gillespie

John M. Parrish — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:28 PST

Justice Between Generations: The Growing Power of the Elderly in America

Janie S. Steckenrider — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:58:27 PST