Center For The Study Of Democratic Institutions

The nomination of former Ohio attorney general Richard Cordray to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “is clearly an issue that has come to the forefront because of election year politics,” said David Lewis, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. Read More

The conventional wisdom about Newt Gingrich's troubles at the Iowa caucuses may be mistaken, says John Geer of Vanderbilt University. Blaming a barrage of attack ads aimed at the former House speaker for his decline in the polls may be inaccurate, Geer believes. Read More

Political scientist looks at elections and why they matter Larry Bartels (John Russell/Vanderbilt) Larry Bartels, arguably the most influential political scientist of his generation, is fascinated with democracy – how it really works, who has the most influence and why the presidential primary election process has propelled one-time dark… Read More

See new Vanderbilt research on who makes up a Tea Party supporter. Plus, learn what hip hop is doing for kid’s health and discover Vanderbilt’s ties to the new X-Men movie! [vucastblurb]… Read More

Noted congressional scholar Thomas E. Mann spoke at Vanderbilt University Oct. 28 about the outlook for the 2010 midterm elections. The public lecture was sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. Mann, the W. Averell Harriman Chair and senior fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution,… Read More

Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions has a strong community outreach component that seeks to help citizens understand contemporary public policy issues and debates. Political scientists John Geer and David Lewis are among the four co-directors of the center that is housed within the Department of… Read More

Noted congressional scholar Thomas E. Mann will speak at Vanderbilt University on Oct. 28 about the outlook for the 2010 midterm elections. The public lecture marks the official launch of the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, which is housed within Vanderbilt’s Department of Political Science. Read More

Watch videos from Commencement 2010 Week’s Faculty Seminars. Read More

Two Vanderbilt undergraduates had the rare opportunity to present their research findings on the influence of patronage on presidential appointments and government performance at the 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Read More

Two Vanderbilt University undergraduates had the rare opportunity to present their research findings on the influence of patronage on presidential appointments and government performance at the 2010 Midwest Political Science Association Conference. Read More

Watch video of Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson, two of the nation’s most experienced political reporters, engaging in an evening of political discussion. Read More