UC Davis experts: National and state politics

As presidential campaigns proceeds this year, the UC Davis faculty can offer journalists broad expertise regarding national and state politics.

Parties, elections and voters

• Elections and voters
• The effect of third parties
• Parties and campaigns
• Election law, law and democracy
• Security of electronic voting
• Electoral college
• History of electoral politics

Hot-button issues

• War deaths and politics
• Immigration and civil rights
• Religion

Leadership

• The presidency
• Why presidents succeed
• Leadership and inconsistency

Economics

• Wealth, income and social programs
• The economy and politics
• Jobs moving offshore

State elections

• California politics, gubernatorial campaigns
• Chicanos, labor and the vote

PARTIES, ELECTIONS AND VOTERS

Elections and voters

UC Davis political science professor Robert Huckfeldt studies elections, participation, public opinion and voting in national elections. Huckfeldt is the author of several books, including "Politics in Context," "Race and the Decline of Class in American Politics," "Citizens, Politics, and Social Communication," and "Political Disagreement: The Survival of Diverse Opinions Within Communication Networks." Contact: Robert Huckfeldt, Political Science, (530) 752-0975, rhuckfeldt@ucdavis.edu.

The effect of third parties

Third-party candidates have tipped the balance of most of the national elections in the past decade, reports Walter Stone, professor of political science at UC Davis. He is co-author of "Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, and Republican Resurgence." He can talk about the recent history of third-party effects and the opportunities and obstacles potential third-party candidates such as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg would face in 2008. Stone co-directs the Candidate Emergence Study, which explores the causes and consequences of competition in U.S. House races. Contact: Walter Stone, Political Science, (530) 752-0976, wstone@ucdavis.edu.

Parties and campaigns

Ed Costantini, professor emeritus of political science, has specialized in political parties, polling, public opinion, elections and nominations, and California politics. Contact: Edmond Costantini, Political Science, (530) 752-0974 office, (530) 756-2009 home, egcostantini@ucdavis.edu.

Election law, law and democracy

UC Davis law professor Chris Elmendorf's varied teaching and research interests include election law, administrative law, constitutional law, and property and natural resources law. His recent writings have focused on the roles that advisory bodies can play in fostering governmental accountability, and judicial formulation and administration of doctrines to implement the fundamental right to vote. His work has been published in the New York University Law Review, the Duke Law Journal, and the Election Law Journal, among other journals. His article, "Advisory Counterparts to Constitutional Courts," was selected for the 2006 Stanford-Yale Junior Faculty Forum. Contact: Chris Elmendorf, School of Law, (530) 752-5756, cselmendorf@ucdavis.edu.

Security of electronic voting

Matt Bishop, professor of computer science at UC Davis, can discuss security issues around electronic voting systems. Bishop has participated in several reviews of electronic voting systems. He was a co-principal investigator for the California Secretary of State's "Top to Bottom Review" of certified voting machines in 2007. He is also a member of the Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board. Bishop co-directs the Computer Security Laboratory at UC Davis, recognized by the National Security Agency as a center of excellence. He wrote the textbook "Computer Security: Art and Science." Contact: Matt Bishop, Computer Science, (530) 752-8060, bishop@cs.ucdavis.edu.

Electoral college

Carlton Larson, a professor at the UC Davis School of Law, specializes in constitutional law. He can speak to constitutional issues related to the Electoral College. Contact: Carlton Larson, School of Law, (530) 754-5731, clarson@ucdavis.edu.

History of electoral politics

Eric Rauchway, professor of history, can discuss presidential politics, primaries and the Electoral College; congressional politics, constitutional rules and party structure; and the role of international economics, globalization and wars in American history. He writes a biweekly online column for The New Republic and has contributed to Slate and The American Prospect. He is the author of four books, including "Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America," "The Great Depression and the New Deal: A Very Short Introduction" and "Blessed Among Nations: How the World Made America." Contact Eric Rauchway, History, (530) 752-6380, earauchway@ucdavis.edu.

HOT-BUTTON ISSUES

War deaths and politics

Research by UC Davis political science professor Scott Sigmund Gartner shows that the total number of casualties and recent increases in war deaths both influence public opinion. Areas of the United States with high numbers of casualties put those communities' national representatives at political risk, both for their positions on the conflict and their electoral performance. Together, the national and local effects of casualties from the war are likely to influence both domestic politics and subsequently, military policy, Gartner concludes. He has published a number of articles on the domestic effects of wartime casualties and is working on a new book on the subject. Contact: Scott Gartner, Political Science, (530) 752-3065.

Immigration and civil rights

UC Davis law professor Kevin Johnson can discuss immigration and civil rights. He has written five books on the topic, most recently "Opening the Floodgates: Why America Needs to Rethink Its Borders and Immigration Law." His other titles include: "The 'Huddled Masses' Myth: Immigration and Civil Rights" and "How Did You Get to Be Mexican? A White/Brown Man's Search for Identity." With fellow UC Davis law professors Jennifer ChacÛn and Bill Ong Hing, Johnson serves on U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's Immigration Policy Group, which advises the presidential candidate on immigration law and policy. Johnson, ChacÛn and Hing are also the editors of ImmigrationProf Blog. The site is included in the U.S. Library of Congress historic collections of Internet materials related to legal blogs. Contact: Kevin Johnson, School of Law, (530) 752-0243, krjohnson@ucdavis.edu.

Religion

Alan Brownstein, a professor of constitutional law, is an expert on church-state issues. He can talk about the relevance of constitutional standards regarding religion and the role of religion in presidential politics. He can also discuss public policy issues such as government funding of religious institutions or activities and government promotion of religious beliefs. Brownstein has written extensively on church-state issues, freedom of speech, privacy and autonomy rights and other constitutional law subjects. His articles have been published in numerous academic journals including the Stanford Law Review, Cornell Law Review, UCLA Law Review and many others. Contact: Alan Brownstein, School of Law, (530) 752-2586, aebrownstein@ucdavis.edu.

LEADERSHIP

The presidency

Larry Berman, director of the UC Davis Washington Program and professor of political science at UC Davis, is a nationally recognized expert on the American presidency. Berman is the author or co-author of 12 books and numerous articles on the presidency and foreign policy. He has been featured on C-Span's "Book TV," the History Channel's "Secrets of War," Bill Moyers' PBS series "The Public Mind" and David McCullough's "American Experience" series. Berman's book, "No Peace, No Honor: Nixon, Kissinger, and Betrayal in Vietnam," won the 2002 Richard E. Neustadt Award for the year's best book in the field of the American presidency. Contact: Larry Berman, Political Science, (202) 974-6352 or (530) 752-3076, larry.berman@ucdavis.edu.

Why presidents succeed

What does it take to be the American president, and why do some presidents succeed more than others? Dean Simonton, the author of the books "Why Presidents Succeed," and "Greatness: Who Makes History and Why," can offer insights into leadership qualities. Simonton is a psychology professor who studies genius, creativity and leadership -- the cognitive, personality, developmental and socio-cultural factors behind exceptional personal influence and historical eminence. Contact: Dean Simonton, psychology, (530) 752-1677, dksimonton@ucdavis.edu.

Leadership and inconsistency

Professor Kim Elsbach of the UC Davis Graduate School of Management studies how organizations, their leaders and individuals acquire and maintain images, identities and reputations. She is the author of the book, "Organizational Perception Management," which addresses such leadership pitfalls as irrational inconsistency. "People in Western society do not like inconsistency in their leaders," she says. "It's what gets a lot of leaders tripped up. There is so much pressure on leaders to be consistent that it outweighs the need to make the right decision or to be accurate." Contact: Kim Elsbach, Graduate School of Management, (530) 752-0910, kdelsbach@ucdavis.edu.

ECONOMICS

Wealth, income and social programs

Economic historian Peter Lindert is an expert on historical trends in the inequality of income, wealth and living standards in the U.S. since the 18th century, as well as social programs and the welfare state. Lindert's book, "Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth Since the Eighteenth Century," spells out the impacts of big social safety nets on the world's richest democracies. The book won two best-book prizes in social science history. "America is divided right and left by these very issues -- the role of government in our lives and who gets taxed to pay for programs," Lindert says. Contact: Peter Lindert, Economics, (530) 752-1983, phlindert@ucdavis.edu.

The economy and politics

How can we evaluate the positions of the candidates on tax policy, the national debt, and the future of Social Security and Medicare? Steven M. Sheffrin, dean of the Division of Social Sciences and a professor of economics, has written extensively in these areas. A former financial economist with the U.S. Treasury, a Brookings economic policy fellow and a member of the board of the National Tax Association, Sheffrin is an expert on fiscal policy and politics. Contact: Steven M. Sheffrin, Economics, (530) 754-8925, smsheffrin@ucdavis.edu.

Jobs moving offshore

The loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs to other countries has been under way for the last three decades and will continue for the foreseeable future, says Martin Kenney, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Human and Community Development. The challenge now is how to reshape our workforce to maintain the higher-paid service jobs that remain. Kenney can talk about the increasing globalization of service jobs and implications for employment. A senior project director at the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy at UC Berkeley, Kenney co-edited "Locating Global Advantage: Industry Dynamics in the International Economy" and wrote "Understanding Silicon Valley." Contact: Martin Kenney, Human and Community Development, (530) 752-0328, mfkenney@ucdavis.edu.

STATE ELECTIONS

California politics, gubernatorial campaign

Edmond Costantini, professor emeritus of political science, specializes in political parties and public opinion, particularly in regards to Californian electoral politics. Contact: Edmond Costantini, Political Science, (530) 752-0974 (office), (530) 756-2009 (home), egcostantini@ucdavis.edu.

Chicanos, labor and the vote

California's changing demographics and term limits have given Chicanos unprecedented power in the state, says UC Davis labor and health economist Adela de la Torre . Director of the Chicana/o Studies Program at UC Davis, De la Torre can talk about a range of issues regarding the Latino vote in this election, both in California and nationally. These include redistricting, the relationship between Chicano political power and federal manpower and health programs, Hispanic labor and income issues, and the influence of the California Legislature's Chicano Caucus on state resource allocation. Contact: Adela de la Torre (Spanish speaker), Chicana/o Studies, (530) 752-3904, adelatorre@ucdavis.edu.

Media contacts:

• Claudia Morain, News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu
• Andy Fell, News Service, (530) 752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu

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