Politics

George W. Bush‘s best efforts to rally public support for Social Security privatization have met with failure. Although more people now perceive a problem, few perceive a crisis. Worse for the president, two months of salesmanship have actually lowered his approval rating on the issue. People do not seem to want private accounts if it means fundamental changes to a program that has a strong track record of success. Read More

Jack Matlock, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1987 to 1991, will reflect on changes in U.S. foreign diplomacy from the Cold War to the War on Terror during an upcoming lecture at Vanderbilt. Read More

Andrew Erdmann, a former adviser to the Bush administration on Iran and Iraq who was also part of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, will speak at Vanderbilt on April 4. Read More

Policy regarding weapons of mass destruction and balancing national security with arms control will be among the subjects U.S. Ambassador Robert T. Grey Jr. addresses at Vanderbilt University Law School on Monday, March 21. Read More

Vanderbilt University will welcome the Rev. Al Sharpton, Ann Coulter and Howard Dean to its 41st annual Impact Symposium March 21-23. Read More

The nuclear threat posed by North Korea will be the focus of a lecture by former South Korean government official Chang Hee Kang Tuesday, Feb. 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies. Read More

The World Bank senior officer who oversees its collaboration with religious organizations will speak at Vanderbilt University about religion and development. The lecture by Katherine Marshall will be at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, in Room 204 of the Mayborn Building on Vanderbilt‘s Peabody College campus. Read More

A Vanderbilt University political scientist will work with colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia to measure the impact of U.S. foreign assistance on democracy-building efforts in more than 100 countries around the globe. "If we can pinpoint where the United States has been most successful, then we can target more carefully our foreign assistance to places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and other troubled nations, " said Centennial Professor of Political Science Mitch Seligson, who is also a Fellow of the Center for the Americas at Vanderbilt. Read More

The U.S. government should take action to strengthen democracy by educating the public to be better citizens, argues Vanderbilt University philosopher Robert Talisse in his new book. Read More

Roy Neel, who most recently served as campaign manager for Gov. Howard Dean's presidential bid and is an adjunct professor of political science at Vanderbilt, and John Geer, a Vanderbilt professor of political science with expertise in presidential campaigns, will explore "After the Vote: Interpreting Nov. 2 and Prospects for the Next Administration" tonight at Vanderbilt. Read More

Months of media coverage and campaigning, political ads and polling, debates and discussion--and it all comes down to this: a nail biter of an Election Day, when either incumbent President George W. Bush or Democratic challenger John Kerry will be elected to lead the country for the next four years. Vanderbilt students will share in the excitement. Read More

A decline in the level of America's trust in government began nearly 40 years ago, and a continuation of that trend in 2004 would benefit President George W. Bush, according to Vanderbilt political scientist Marc Hetherington. He is the author of Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. Read More

A legacy of the 2000 election is the increased likelihood that the 2004 and subsequent presidential races will end up in the courts, says Susanna Sherry, Cal Turner Professor of Law and Leadership at Vanderbilt University. Read More

One week before American voters decide whether to retain George W. Bush as president or make a change with Sen. John Kerry, political analyst and author Joe Klein will speak at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Vanderbilt University students will gather Wednesday evening to watch the final and perhaps decisive presidential debate. Read More

Controversial Vietnam veteran and Vanderbilt alumnus B.G. "Jug" Burkett will speak on campus Oct. 21 about "The Myths of the Vietnam War ñ Then and Now." Read More

In post-Sept. 11 America, prisons are increasingly holding people, some of them indefinitely, for reasons of security, asylum and migration. But neither George Bush nor John Kerry is talking about immigration issues, which "should be at the very forefront of the debates," says Robert Barsky, an immigration issues expert and Vanderbilt University professor. Read More

There has not been a personnel change on the Supreme Court in 10 years ñ the longest the body has gone unchanged since the 1820s. If President George W. Bush replaces a liberal justice or Sen. John Kerry replaces a conservative justice, there is a significant opportunity for change within this closely divided Supreme Court, says Suzanna Sherry, Cal Turner Professor of Law and Leadership at Vanderbilt University. Read More

The nationally televised debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards will be the only opportunity voters have to see the vice presidential candidates go head to head before the election, and a trio of Vanderbilt University students will experience the action live from the debate floor. Erin Brown, Susan Mader and Alex Kwak will be on hand at Case Western Reserve University to see how Cheney and Edwards use this moment in the spotlight to reinforce the messages of the men atop their respective tickets. Read More

A good performance in the vice presidential debate by Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina could be a factor in a win by Kerry on Nov. 2 in one or more Southern states, despite predictions that the Bush campaign is practically assured of victory there. While more Southern states are likely to be red than blue this November, the Democrats' campaign strategy may succeed by carrying just a few Southern states, says Vanderbilt Fellow Kareem Crayton. Read More