Political Science

Speaking about Sears’ decline, the Wharton School’s Daniel Raff said that expressions of nostalgia for the store, which has long catered to blue-collar Americans, “may well resonate with [Trump’s] core voters.”

The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Kathleen Hall Jamieson joined a panel of experts on “Morning Joe” for a discussion about allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election. She identified “trolls, hackers, and disinformation to [James] Comey” as major factors in Trump’s win.

In an article by Dick Polman, writer in residence in the School of Arts and Sciences, Brian Rosenwald of the Fox Leadership Program was cited for his political expertise. Lindsey Graham “knows that infuriating the left and the media really poses no risk, given the nature of his state,” said Rosenwald.

The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Kathleen Hall Jamieson was featured for her new book, “Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President.” Though she had initially been “actively skeptical,” Jamieson said, she eventually concluded that the data clearly supported claims of Russian meddling.

A new report from the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions highlights schools’ efforts to encourage civic engagement. “Our research on MSIs demonstrates the power that these schools can have during an election and we hope that they use this information to empower their students to make it to the polls,” said Andrew Martínez, a doctoral candidate in the Graduate School of Education.

Joseph Biden, Susan Rice, H.R. McMaster and others participated in a colloquium at Perry World House last week. All emphasized the need to bridge internal divisions within the country.

Michael Carpenter of the Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement weighed in on a Macedonian referendum that could have changed the nation’s name. “If they vote no, Russia sees this as a huge victory,” said Carpenter.

Matt Blaze of the School of Engineering and Applied Science said that the investigation into Russian election interference has not found evidence that votes were actually altered, but also that “we haven’t looked very hard.” Furthermore, said Blaze, even if we were to look more closely, “it’s possible to do a pretty good job of erasing all the forensic evidence.”

Speaking on campus Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden, head of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, said that Democrats will likely gain control of Congress in November, freeing Republicans from pressure to support the current administration. “I think you’re going to see a significant change in the politics of the country,” he said.