Politics

Vanderbilt University's 2008 Elections course will meld rigorous academic research with real-world politics as two former U.S. representatives join renowned political scientists John Geer and Bruce Oppenheimer to team-teach one of the university's most popular classes. Read More

David E. Lewis, professor of political science at Vanderbilt University, has been awarded the Herbert A. Simon Best Book Award for The Politics of Presidential Appointments: Political Control and Bureaucratic Performance. Read More

Vin Weber, former Minnesota congressman and one of Washington's most respected political strategists, will join the Vanderbilt University faculty as an adjunct political science professor. Read More

America is not living up to the principles embodied in the Declaration of Independence. As a consequence, there is much unrest. We have forgotten who we are, how we were established and what we were meant to be. We have become a declining, decadent nation; too arrogant for its own good. On this July 4, 2008, we must look back "lest we forget." amy.wolf@vanderbilt.edu Read More

This fall Democratic campaign strategists might want to target traditionally Republican congressional districts with heavy casualties in Iraq, according to research by two Vanderbilt University political scientists. While many political pundits have attributed the unpopularity of the Iraq war to a congressional landslide for the Democrats in 2006,… Read More

Despite what seems like an exhaustive and never-ending primary season for the Democratic presidential candidates, the process actually worked, says Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer. The race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has essentially come down to a tie, and the superdelegates are fulfilling their role. Read More

Forty years ago, the United States was engaged in an unpopular war half-way around the world, Richard Nixon was well on his way to claiming the Republican nomination and the Democrats were locked in a struggle to determine whether to continue the policies of the sitting Democratic president or to choose a candidate who opposed the war and other key administration policies. The year was 1968, and the candidate who was trying to convince the nation that a new way of conducting its business was in order was Robert F. Kennedy. Read More

John McCain and Barack Obama, the likely presidential nominees for the GOP and Democrats, will need to run negative ads as they seek to define each other in the general election campaign, says Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer. He and colleague Bruce Oppenheimer are preparing to teach a course on the 2008 elections in the fall. Read More

This op-ed by Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Sociology Beverly Moran compares and contrast Sen. Barrack Obama\'s and Sen. Hillary Clinton\'s use of old vs. new politics during the 2008 primary campaign. Read More

An op-ed by Professor of Law and Political Science Carol Swain on the repercussions of presidential candidate Barack Obama\'s relationship with the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright for Obama\'s campaign. Read More

A new study examining the connection between corporate lobbying at the federal level and financial performance finds that lobbying pays off. Read More

A Vanderbilt University political scientist says the largely white, affluent suburbs around Philadelphia could boost Barack Obama\'s chances of a surprise win in the April 22 Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Read More

Civil rights leaders and activists Angela Davis and the Rev. James Lawson will speak on April 4, the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and a special panel including Houston Baker, Richard King, Bob Moses and Ruth Turner Perot will examine Robert Penn Warren\'s 1965 book Who Speaks for the Negro? Read More

An op-ed by Vanderbilt University legal and political scholar Carol Swain arguing that the fight between Sen. Barrack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination and its focus on race and gender is harming the party. Read More

An op-ed by Carol Swain, professor of law and of political science, on Planned Parenthood and its role in performing abortions. Read More

What are the most important issues facing Africa today? What are the historical and current causes? Join Kanayo Odoe, native-born African from Nigeria, as he discusses the relationship between scarcity, inequality, and conflict in Africa today. Read More

What are the most important issues facing Africa today? What are the historical and current causes? Join Kanayo Odoe, native-born African from Nigeria, as he discusses the relationship between scarcity, inequality, and conflict in Africa today. Read More

A distinguished group of scholars, journalists and activists will grapple with some of the thorniest issues of immigration during a symposium organized by Carol Swain, a Vanderbilt University professor of political science and law. Read More

An op-ed co-authored by Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer arguing that "talking about the bad as well as the good in campaigns helps voters make choices." Read More

The U.S. Senate early this morning confirmed the nomination of Carol M. Swain, Vanderbilt professor of political science and law, to the National Council on the Humanities. The appointment is for a six-year term. Read More