elections

In a recent experiment, a group of political scientists has found that when choosing a candidate, party affiliation outweighs a candidate's policy positions and their support for democratic norms for both Democrats and Republicans surveyed.

In a new research report, professor David Primo argues that there’s a disconnect between what the public believe about campaign finance law and the reality, and that many popular reform proposals unlikely to bring the desired results.

The third Bright Line Watch survey, co-authored by Rochester political scientist Gretchen Helmke, focuses on the health of U.S. democratic institutions and compares the results from thousands of political professionals with the general public.

For one week in July, Emmanuel Gweamee ’20 and Aime Laurent Twizerimana ’20 will visit the Liberian capital of Monrovia to teach voting-age young people with disabilities about their civic responsibilities, with the help of a Davis Projects for Peace grant worth $10,000.

In an effort spearheaded by Rochester faculty, more than 300 political scientists from across the United States have signed a statement voicing their collective concern about Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

As a freshman, Skylar Cerbone ’20 normally wouldn’t take Lynda Powell’s intermediate course, American Elections, this fall. But Cerbone didn’t want to wait. “It’s a presidential election year,” the political science major says. “I had to take this class now. It’s too important not to.”

“Negative campaigning has been around as long as campaigning,” says Simon Business School professor Mitchell Lovett. “It stays around because it works.”

Through letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, broadsides, and banners, the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation gives a rich voice to the history of women’s suffrage.

According to a national study, Rochester students voted in the 2012 presidential election at a similar rate to the national average -- at around 42 percent. This year, students share their students of how they have become engaged in what for most will be their first political contest.

Although international students are not eligible to vote, they have plenty to say about this year's American presidential election.