Why Gridlock Rules Washington and How We Can Solve This Crisis A bipartisan lecture with former Congressmen David Jolly (R-FL) and Patrick Murphy (D-FL) moderated by Abby Wood, USC Gould School of Law. Hyper-partisan politics. Entrenched gridlock in Washington. Can Americans find common ground on the most pressing issues we face as a nation? Jolly…
Ben Graham is an assistant professor at USC’s School of International Relations. Ben discussed his paper, Network Ties and the Political Strategies of Firms, co-written with Cesi Cruz. Abstract: Social ties are critical to firms’ ability to achieve influence over government policy, and it is widely accepted that better-connected firms achieve more influence. However, it is little understood how different…
Mina Chow‘s documentary FACE OF A NATION was able to reach the right audience: Legislators. When architecture, cultural diplomacy, civic action, combine to be greater than the sum of the parts. What can policy students learn from this experience? What lessons has Chow learned making a documentary … making sure folks in governance hear? This…
LaGina Gause discussed her research paper, The Advantage of Disadvantage: Protests, Resources, and Legislative Behavior.
Our series opens with Jack H. Knott, Dean and the C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Chair and Professor of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. Under Dean Knott’s leadership, the Price School has experienced significant growth and has strengthened its position as leader in public affairs research and education. This year, USC Price is ranked 2nd…
“Uncovering Discrimination in the Policing of Anti-Immigrant Hate Crime” With an increase in ethnically motivated hate crime, we explore the issue of the rigor in which law enforcement agencies police potential hate crime activity. We conducted a large-scale field experiment on roughly 6,800 police departments throughout the United States to test for discrimination in the policing of…
The Power of Economic Interests Under Direct versus Representative Democracy The power of economic interest groups to influence policy outcomes is a common theme in economics and political science. Most theories posit that interest group power arises from the ability to influence elected or appointed government officials, that is, by exploiting the representative part of democracy.…
Beyond a Reliable Vote: Coordination and Information Problems in Congressional Nominations Research in collaboration with: Knox Brown, Angela Ocampo, Shawn Patterson, John Ray and John Zaller Congressional primaries, like primary elections in general, are imagined to give voters, rather than party elites, the ability to choose which candidate wins the nomination. Indeed, we might expect primary…
Robert McKenrick is the Veteran Administration’s Executive Director, Clinical Care (SES) of greater Los Angeles. McKenrick spoke about his leadership philosophy, the educational and career path to his current position, and challenges he faced along the way.
The Challenge of Measuring Political Polarization in the US over Time using Congressional Roll Call Votes Jeff Lewis is professor of Political Science, UCLA. He is also the current president of the Society for Political Methodology. His research and teaching are in the areas of quantitative methodology and American politics. *Political Institutions and Political Economy