Michael A. Smith
Polling for the 2016 Presidential Election: What Went Wrong?
As I write, Donald Trump is less than two weeks from being inaugurated as President of the United States. For political scientists, our “what the…?” moment involves the failure of most public-opinion polls to predict the results of the 2016 election. I joined numerous colleagues in assuming a…
MPSA Blog: Top 10 Posts from 2016
Regardless of your research interests, your academic (or Alt-Ac) role, or your aspirations for the new year, there is something on this list of MPSA’s most popular blog posts from 2016 that is sure to pique your interest: Q&A with the Founder of Women Also Know Stuff Recommended Reading:…
Political Science: The Cure for Election Anxiety
Reporters are discovering a new phenomenon this year: election anxiety. This year’s contests, particularly the one for President, have Americans worried and minds racing. The cure is right here: political science. It is the key to calming mental chatter, reducing stress, re-centering energy, and…
Bernie Goldwater: What Sanders Supporters Can Learn from Young Americans for Freedom
Supporters were crestfallen, but their resolve was firm. Their candidate had refused to buckle to the pressure from party elite—the usual pressure from political managers, to move to the political center and tone down strong rhetoric, seeking to enlist the support of middle-of-the-road voters and…
If Political Science Ruled the World (and We Were on Our Best Behavior)
Once, as a graduate student at the University of Missouri, I wisecracked, "the entire world should be turned over to political scientists for experimental purposes." I was joking and everyone knew it... but I never lived down that moment. The world should not be turned over to political scientists…
Political Science: The Final Frontier
Can science fiction teach us about political institutions? A group of political scientists says yes. James Endersby of the University of Missouri-Columbia is spearheading a project with several of his former students, now colleagues, to show how science fiction illustrates the importance of…
Sir Edmund and Hillary: A Surprisingly Likely Pair
Mainstream political scientists often struggle with the subfield called political theory. Otherwise known as normative theory or political philosophy, theory is the study of history, philosophy, and values. It made up the bulk of political science before the data-driven “behavioral revolution”…
Will the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election Be a Realigning Election?
In his classic book Dynamics of the Party System, James L. Sundquist developed a theory of how party alignments change around new issues. As a winner-take-all system, (also called “first past the post” or FPTP), the U.S. is hard-wired to have only two dominant parties at a time. However, one party…
Primaries and Caucuses 2016: Experiencing the Energy and Demystifying the Math
INDIANOLA, IA - FEBRUARY 1, 2016: Indianola mayor Kelly Shaw (second from right) and Smith's Emporia State University students at the Iowa caucus. (Photo courtesy: Michael A. Smith) The 2016 Primary/Caucus season started this week in snowy Iowa, and my students and I were there to see it. Eight…
#MPSA16-- Is Political Science Still Relevant?
It is only 35 minutes from the Palmer House to 4100 S. Pulaski Road. Downtown Chicago’s ornate Palmer House hotel will host the 74th annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference, as it does every spring. Eight miles away, Pulaski Road is where a Chicago police officer fatally…