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American Politics

Washington University's faculty in American politics are known for strengths in the study of judicial politics, legislative politics, public opinion, and public policy. The program offers first-rate training in formal theory and positive theories of politics; and has great strengths in comparative politics, where faculty combine theoretical expertise on political institutions, social movements and gender with geographical expertise spanning the regions of the world. The University also has deep expertise in the international political economy and in political philosophy.

Areas of Interest
•	Campaign Tactics & Strategy		•	Presidential Politics & Campaign Issues
•	Economic Policy & Politics		•	Social Issues and Domestic Policy
•	Education Reform & Policy		•	Terrorism Response & Foreign Policy
•	Politics of Religion, Islamic Issues

Faculty Experts:

Showing 5 American Politics Experts.

Thomas Schweich Visiting Professor of Law and Ambassador in Residence Schweich Thomas Schweich served the Bush administration as the ambassador for counternarcotics and justice reform in Afghanistan, as the government's principal deputy assistant secretary (PDAS) for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and chief of staff to the U.S. Mission ... Expertise: foreign policy, Afghanistan Direct contact: (314) 935-3379 / tschweich@wulaw.wustl.edu

Melissa Waters Professor of Law Waters Waters' research and teaching interests include foreign relations law, international law, international human rights law and international criminal law, comparative law, conflicts of law, civil procedure, and complex civil litigation. Her scholarly work focuses on the incorporation of international ... Expertise: international law, foreign relations law, war on terrorism, conflicts of law, international human rights law, civil procedure Direct contact: (314) 935-3458 / mawaters@wulaw.wustl.edu

Gregory Magarian Professor of law Gregory Magarian Magarian is a leading expert in the areas of election law, the electoral system, free speech, the First Amendment and constitutional law. He is the author of a number of articles including the forthcoming "Substantive Media Regulation in Three Dimensions" (George Washington Law Review). Expertise: election law, First Amendment, third parties, free speech, law and religion, church-state law, media regulation, … Direct contact: (314) 935-3394 / gpmagarian@wulaw.wustl.edu

John Baugh Director of African and African American Studies John Baugh Download John Baugh, Ph.D., is able to provide perspective on the historic 2008 presidential race and issues related to the first African American candidate from a major party to run for the office. Baugh, author of Beyond Ebonics: Linguistic Pride and Racial Prejudice, a significant piece of work on the Ebonics ... Expertise: Race and politics, linguistics, linguistic profiling Direct contact: (314) 935-5690 / jbaugh@wustl.edu

Peter J. Kastor Associate Professor of History in Arts & Sciences Peter Kastor Download Expertise: The American presidency, role of the vice president, American political institutions, the Founding Fathers, federal governance and governing foreign peoples, American foreign policy in 19th century, early American republic, … Direct contact: (314) 935-7663 / pjkastor@wustl.edu

Showing 5 American Politics Experts.

News Stories & Tip Sheets:

Showing American Politics Stories 1 through 3 of 16.  - Show More

China's rapidly aging population -- part of a worldwide trend The global demographic shift is a significant opportunity as long as it is in tandem with a policy and cultural shift, say productive aging experts Oct. 14, 2009 -- China's population of adults over 65 tops 100 million. This number is steadily growing, putting China at the forefront of a global demographic shift that includes the United States and other developed nations. "While a common tendency is to focus on the burdens an aging population will place on a country's economic and social welfare, an aging society represents an opportunity, not just a crisis," says Nancy Morrow-Howell, Ph.D., productive aging expert and professor at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University. "Expanding opportunities for productive engagement, including paid employment, formal volunteering, and mutual aid, may reduce social costs by reducing health care expenses and need for post-retirement income supports. (Video available)

Obama shaping a different world Historian finds 'profound' difference between President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize and those awarded to Presidents Wilson and Roosevelt Oct. 9, 2009 -- Download An historian of politics and American institutions at Washington University in St. Louis says that there is a "profound" difference between the awarding of a Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama and ones to Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. And it has nothing to do with the fact that President Obama is only eight months into his first term as president and Presidents Roosevelt and Wilson were both near the end of their second terms when they received theirs, says Peter J. Kastor, Ph.D., an associate professor of history and of American culture studies in Arts & Sciences.

A tale of two artists A Challenge to Democracy explores legacy of Japanese internment camps Sept. 17, 2009 -- Ansel Adams, Smiling Girl (Oriental Type), 1943 In the 1930s, the photographer Ansel Adams struck up a friendship with California painter Chiura Obata. Yet the arrival of World War II would set these two celebrated artists on radically divergent paths — paths that would, in very different ways, lead both to the now-infamous "war relocation centers" at which the U.S. government forcibly interred approximately 120,000 Japanese-Americans. Next month their sons, Michael Adams and Gyo Obata, will explore the impact of internment on their respective families in a public dialog at Washington University.

Showing American Politics Stories 1 through 3 of 16.  - Show More

Additional Information:

WUSTL Programs Related to American Politics

• Center in Political Economy:The Center sponsors a Ph.D. concentration, dissertation research, and scholarly conferences in the study of political economy.
• Center for New Institutional Social Sciences: Founded by Nobel Laureate Douglass North, the Center sponsors graduate programs on economic and political institutions.
• Harris Institute for International Legal Studies and the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies: Political science faculty and students work closely with these research centers in the School of Law.
• Women and Gender Studies: A graduate program that brings issues of gender to bear on such disciplines as politics, psychology, history, education, law, architecture, art history and archaeology, social thought and analysis, and studies in cultures and languages.
• NSF-EITM Summer Institutes: The Department of Political Science and the Weidenbaum Center host a summer institute on the empirical implications of theoretical models of politics that trains junior faculty and advanced graduate students from around the country. Funded by the National Science Foundation.
• The Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy: The Weidenbaum Center supports research in political science, economics, and related fields. The Center sponsors many workshops and conferences in which political science faculty and graduate students participate.