Political Science | Penn Today

Trump's mark on federal courts could last decades

Stephen Burbank of the Law School said President Trump has strayed from prior administrations’ efforts to appoint diverse judges to the federal judiciary.

A sign with LOVE written the colors of the black and brown rainbow flag is held aloft before City Hall

SP2 graduate is now a policy fellow for Philly’s LGBTQ population

Sayeeda Rashid, who identifies as a queer South Asian woman, advocates for social justice in the Philadelphia Mayor’s office of LGBTQ Affairs.

The protests are already changing elections

Daniel Gillion of the School of Arts & Sciences said, “Democrats are more mobilized, more likely to give, and more energized” than they have been in a while.

Trump vs. Biden: How COVID-19 will affect voting for president

Marc Meredith of the School of Arts & Sciences offered predictions for how the 2020 presidential candidates will conduct their campaigns. “I expect both campaigns will structure their campaign events to fit into their overall narrative about how the county should be responding to the COVID-19 crisis,” he said.

2020 or 1968: Campaign ads echo another fraught election year

Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the Annenberg Public Policy Center said the political atmosphere may continue to shift before November, which makes it hard to design campaign ads. “It makes sense to try to harvest the news agenda to activate your constituency,” she said.

crowd of people at a demonstration holding signs, one reads DEFEND DACA

Five takeaways from the DACA ruling

What does this decision mean for the nearly 700,000 DACA recipients in America? Political scientist Michael Jones Correa shares five key takeaways from the ruling

What the pandemic reveals about the male ego

PIK Professor Ezekiel J. Emanuel weighed in on how men and women in leading political roles have handled the pandemic. “We often joke that men drivers never ask for directions,” he said. “I actually think there’s something to that also in terms of women’s leadership, in terms of recognizing expertise and asking experts for advice, and men sort of barreling ahead like they got it.”

A crowd of people wearing masks march in the streets, one protester holds a sign reading "Justice for George Floyd."

Q&A

Can widespread protests bring lasting change?

Amidst the current protests decrying the killings of Black people by police and demand for reforms, Penn Today speaks to political scientist Daniel Gillion about his new book, “The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy.”

Obama is right. The Floyd protests will change public policy

Daniel Q. Gillion of the School of Arts & Sciences writes about how protests have shaped public policy since 1960. “Already, the federal government is moving on policies responding to recent protests,” he wrote.

Social movements in our history produced significant change. The George Floyd protests can, too

Michael Hanchard of the School of Arts & Sciences was interviewed about the fight for social change and about political organizing.

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