Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs | CAS in the Media

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WSU Vancouver political scientist nabs grant to study climate risk governance

September 2, 2014

Mark Stephan, associate professor of political science at WSU Vancouver, is part of a collaborative research team receiving a National Science Foundation grant for a three-year study of state and local climate risk governance.

WSU Vancouver’s share of the grant, $99,646, will pay for data collection and field work in six states as well as the hiring of a research assistant for the three years. The research team presented initial analysis results at the American Political Science Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The team analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions from more than 7,000 facilities in nine sectors. Preliminary results suggest that greater reductions in emissions are occurring in states with active governance related to climate change.

More details about the grant

Foley distinguished speaker Nick Hanauer offers insights for saving U.S. capitalism

August 29, 2014

Seattle business owner, economics activist, and one of the Northwest’s most ardent advocates for income equality, Nick Hanauer will present the 2014 Thomas S. Foley Distinguished Lecture “Saving American Capitalism: The Truth about Jobs, Prosperity, and Economic Growth” in two events Oct. 2 in Pullman and Spokane, Wash.

Hanauer will speak and take questions from the audience at 2:30 p.m. in the Compton Union Building (CUB) Auditorium at WSU Pullman and at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Theater in downtown Spokane. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Thomas S. Foley Institute at WSU provides public-affairs programming and education, supports student engagement in public service, and fosters scholarly research on public policy and political institution in a nonpartisan setting.

Learn more about Nick Hanauer’s Foley lectures:
WSU News
The Spokesman-Review

On Supreme Court, Does 9-0 Add Up to More Than 5-4?

August 13, 2014

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a remarkable number of unanimous decisions last term, and in their public remarks the justices seemed unanimous in saying that unanimity was a good thing. But is it?

Michael F. Salamone, a political scientist at WSU, has designed experiments to test whether the public is more apt to accept unanimous decisions than divided ones.

Related research citing Salamone’s work concluded that “the idea that 5-4 decisions pose a serious problem of credibility or legitimacy [for the court] remains an unproven hypothesis.” How hard, then, should the justices work to achieve unanimity?

Read more about Salamone’s research in the ABA Journal; also in the New York Times (subscription required).

The Ruling on Peyote that Helped Hobby Lobby Win

August 12, 2014

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Hobby Lobby decision, Carolyn Long, associate professor of the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs at WSU Vancouver, explained the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), the basis of the court’s ruling.

RFRA was adopted after a 1990 Supreme Court decision denied unemployment benefits to two Native American men who used peyote in a religious ritual.

Hear Professor Long on The Takeaway with John Hockenberry.

A call for civility by candidates and supporters

June 13, 2014

Former Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed embodied the term “civility;” it is even included in the title of a professorship in Reed’s honor at Washington State University. Reed’s alma mater created an endowment to fund the Sam Reed Distinguished Professorship in Civic Education and Public Civility to honor Reed’s 12 years in statewide office, which came after stints as Thurston County auditor and assistant secretary of state.

Reed is a Republican who repeatedly won elections in Democratic-leaning Washington through moderate views and a fair, even-handed approach to his job. He concluded his tenure in 2012 with a statewide trek that he dubbed the “civility tour.” His message to local community leaders: When supporting candidates through endorsements or financial contributions, do so on the condition that they practice the values of civility, respect and bipartisanship. What was good advice in 2012 still stands in 2014.