Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service

Cornell Clayton, director of the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at Washington State University, is helping developing democracies thrive. Recipient of a Fulbright Senior Specialist award for a three-week visit to Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, Clayton held a series of lectures for graduate and undergraduate students focusing on contemporary American politics, constitutional law and politics, and […]

A one-time political foe of the late Tom Foley is helping enhance efforts at WSU to promote their shared commitment to public service and productive discourse. Former U.S. Congressman George R. Nethercutt Jr., a Spokane Republican who in 1994 famously defeated Foley, a Democrat and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, has joined

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, domestic threats to democracy, and the role young people must play in securing the future of the U.S. were among the topics discussed by former Secretary of Defense James Mattis during his Foley Institute Distinguished Lecture in March. At the heart of his remarks was the importance of cooperation, […]

The good news from the 2020 election? Record turnout. Nearly 67 percent, 155 million Americans voted. That is the highest turnout since 1900, when William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan. Faith in the power of voting is vital to democracy. We should celebrate so many Americans believed their votes mattered enough to stand in lines, […]

The Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service is bringing its Fall 2020 lecture series online with political science professors and experts from across the country. Political Science 400, an undergradute class that tracks with the lecture series, is also being offered this semester. Although there are challenges, the move to online […]

Political polarization, decreasing trust in government, and rising populist rhetoric, have made political civility a hot-button topic. WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service has been tackling this issue head-on for quite some time. Pursuing that goal, Cornell Clayton, director of the Foley Institute, announced that the institute has joined the National […]

Social progress is a complex and controversial concept in current philosophical and political debates—rejected because of its links to ideologies of colonialism and imperialism while also defended as important for achieving emancipatory social goals, said Matt Stichter, associate professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs.