Tag Archives: political science

Focus on research: PA primaries offer microcosm of unusual election year

By Michael Berkman and Zachary Baumann

In an election year notable for the success of “outsider candidates,” Pennsylvania confirmed that the party establishment has a much stronger hold on the Democratic than it does the Republican Party.

Pennsylvania Democrats participated in three notable statewide races: for president, for senator and to replace Kathleen Kane as attorney general. As we saw, in all three cases, the establishment candidate won by a significant margin.

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Focus on research: Unilateral presidential power in an age of polarized politics

President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most executive orders at 3,721. Image in the public domain, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued far more executive orders than any other U.S. president to date. Image: Public domain, downloaded from Wikimedia Commons.

By Mark Major

Presidential power, especially their unilateral authority, has been a fierce point of contention in the Obama era. Recently, 43 senators, all Republican, filed a friend-of-the-court brief challenging President Barack Obama’s, as they put it, “extra-constitutional assertion of a unilateral executive power” over immigration policy. The public, and many in the press, assume that the controversy centers on an executive order. This is incorrect.

In the case of Obama’s immigration reform, it deals with “prosecutorial discretion.” Regardless of the term, unilateral executive powers are a compelling, and long overdue, topic for national discussion. Despite this high level of attention to Obama’s unilateral actions on immigration, health care, and gun reform, we have little understanding of this unique presidential power.  Continue reading Focus on research: Unilateral presidential power in an age of polarized politics

A Capitol Experience with DC Alumni

Research On The Road headed back to Washington, DC, recently  for our fourth event with the good folks from the Penn State Alumni Chapter of Greater DC.  The speaker? The multifaceted political science faculty member Pete Hatemi, whose research on politics and genetics has been showcased on NPR, the BBC, and other outlets.

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