Experts Videos

Assistant professor of political science Efrén Pérez explains what  he thinks is wrong with our current immigration policy and the immigration debate. View 2012 election expertise information for Efren Perez >> Visit election VU to find all Vanderbilt experts on the 2012 election >>… Read More

Assistant professor of political science Efrén Pérez explains why Latinos and African Americans seem like they would be ideal Republicans, but don’t vote with the GOP. View 2012 election expertise information for Efren Perez >> Visit election VU to find all Vanderbilt experts on the 2012 election >>… Read More

Republicans are making serious mistakes when it comes to attracting Latino voters, especially with the immigration issue.  Assistant professor of political science Efrén Pérez explains why. View 2012 election expertise information for Efren Perez >> Visit ElectionVU to find all of Vanderbilt experts on the 2012 election >>… Read More

How powerful can a provocative political ad be to a presidential election, whether the ad is accurate or not? Associate professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Josh Clinton explains how a controversial ad, whether accurate or not, can greatly influence an election. View… Read More

How the media covers campaign advertising can influence election results. Associate professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Josh Clinton explains his research on the 2004 “swift boat” ads and how media coverage impacted the election. View 2012 election expertise information for Joshua Clinton… Read More

How do unbiased pollsters make a political poll fair? Associate professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Josh Clinton is an expert on political polls. He explains some of the science behind creating polls. View 2012 election expertise information for Josh Clinton >> Visit… Read More

How powerful are political polls? Associate professor and co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, Josh Clinton is an expert on political polls. He explains how polls not only influence an election, but almost every decision a lawmaker makes. View 2012 election expertise information for Joshua… Read More

How will President George Bush be seen by future generations?  Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science David Lewis explains why he thinks President Bush will be remembered more favorably than he is today. View 2012 election expertise information for David Lewis >> Visit election VU to find… Read More

How do we fix the problem of too much politics in the bureaucracy?  Associate Chair of the Department of Political Science David Lewis explains why he thinks the number of presidential appointees should be cut and why most presidents do not support a merit system when it comes to bureaucratic… Read More

Management professor David Owens of the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management says that business and other leaders need to understand exactly which of the constraints are working against them to help create conditions that foster innovation instead of killing it. Read More

They’re called patriots, extremists, conservatives, libertarians.  So who really makes up the Tea Party?  Vanderbilt sociologist Steven Tepper surveyed some two thousand people and found four major traits that make up a Tea Party supporter: authoritarian, libertarian, fear of change and strong anti-immigrant sentiment. He also found that one of… Read More

The long list of Republican presidential candidates continue to duke it out in the debates. Soon they will be heading to the earlier than usual primaries in January 2012.  Professor of Political Science Bruce Oppenheimer says things are still looking good for Mitt Romney. View 2012 election expertise information… Read More

What makes some members of Congress better than others at moving bills through the legislative process? Alan Wiseman, co-director of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, has taken an in depth look at Congress’ last 35 years and tells us why women may have the upper hand. Read More

Who will be our next President?  A lot depends on what happens to our ailing economy between now and election day. But, presidential historian Thomas Schwartz says another factor will depend on which candidate has the clearest vision for success. View 2012 election expertise information for Thomas Schwartz >>… Read More

If you think campaign spending during the last presidential election was a lot, you haven’t seen anything yet. Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer says this will be the first presidential race since the landmark “Citizens United” 2010 Supreme Court ruling, which ended most restrictions on donations by… Read More

Attack ads are already hitting the airwaves during this presidential election. John Geer, who wrote the book In Defense of Negativity which analyzes negative ads during the 1960-2004 presidential campaigns, discusses the media’s role in the attack ad wars. View 2012 election expertise information for John Geer… Read More

If you think that the word ‘compromise’ is a lost art in Congress, you are right. Marc Hetherington, professor of politcial science and co-author of the book Authoritarianism and Polarization in American Politics, tells us why our political leaders are digging in their heels. View 2012 election expertise information… Read More

Vanderbilt University professor of law and political science Carol Swain believes that America’s departure from our founding fathers’ Judeo-Christian roots has come at a cost politically, socially and morally. Read More

The legal safeguard habeas corpus is being used in ways it was never intended, resulting in a costly waste of scarce legal resources and taxpayer dollars, according to two researchers who have studied thousands of habeas cases. Read More

As members of Congress spar over whether or not to provide tuition benefits and a path to legalization to undocumented students through the DREAM Act, an examination of the nation’s first state-level “dream act” indicates such policy effectively boosts college enrollment by these students. Read More