The event will be moderated by and in honor of Professor Steven Schier, Dorothy H. and Edward C. Congdon Professor of Political Science, on his retirement after the 2015-16 academic year. Steve's teaching, mentoring, and leadership of the Carleton in Washington off-campus program have inspired numerous students to pursue careers in government and public service. He founded the Carleton in Washington program in 1983 and led the program 12 times. Since joining the Carleton faculty in 1981, he has taught widely in American politics―courses on Congress, the presidency, parties and interest groups, political rhetoric, America's future, public policy, and research methods.
Panelists
R. Michael Alvarez '86 is Professor of Political Science at the California Institute of Technology and co-director of the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project. He has played an important role in both the scientific study of election administration and technology, and the development of public policies to improve the conduct of elections in the United States and other nations. His undergraduate degree in political science is from Carleton College (1986), and he obtained his PhD in political science from Duke University. He has authored or co-authored several books, including Information and Elections; Hard Choices, Easy Answers: Values, Information, and American Public Opinion; and the recently published New Faces, New Voices: The Hispanic Electorate in America. He has also edited a book on election fraud, and has written scores of academic articles on voting behavior, elections, and voting technologies. At Caltech he is a member of the Social Sciences and Behavioral and Social Neurosciences groups. He is the co-editor of the journal Political Analysis.
Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier is Vernal Riffe Professor of Political Science at The Ohio State University. (PhD, Texas) She directs the Program in Statistics and Methodology (PRISM). Box-Steffensmeier served as President of the Midwest Political Science Association and the Political Methodology Society as well as Treasurer of the American Political Science Association. She has twice received the Gosnell Award for the best work in political methodology and the Emerging Scholar Award of the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior Section of the American Political Science Association in 2001. The Box-Steffensmeier Graduate Student Award, given annually by the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is named after her in recognition of her contributions in political methodology and her support of women in this field. In addition to numerous articles and book chapters, Professor Box-Steffensmeier is the author of Time Series Analysis for the Social Sciences, Analytical Methods for Social Research Series, with John Freeman, Matthew Hitt, and Jon Pevehouse; andEvent History Modeling: A Guide for Social Scientists, Analytical Methods for Social Research Series, with Bradford S. Jones. She co-edited The American Elections of 2012 with Steven E. Schier.
Lawrence R. Jacobs is the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair for Political Studies, and Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubert H. Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Jacobs has published numerous books and edited volumes and articles on elections, legislative and presidential politics, elections and public opinion, and a range of public policies. His books include Elite Power and the Shaping of Public Opinion: The Limits and Possibilities of Presidential Manipulation, with James Druckman; Health Care Reform and American Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know, with Theda Skocpol; and Obama at the Crossroads: Politics, Markets, and the Battle for America’s Future, with Desmond King. His research has been recognized by a number of prizes. His book, Politicians Don’t Pander, received the Goldsmith Book Prize from Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center for Press and Politics, the Neustadt Book Prize from the American Political Science Association, and the Distinguished Book Prize in political sociology from the American Sociological Association. Dr. Jacobs' research has been published and discussed in mass media outlets including the BBC, National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio as well as ABC, NBC, CBS News, CNN, CSPAN, MSNBC, and The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, The Economist, The Washington Monthly, The Pioneer Press, The Star Tribune, The New Republic, Congressional Quarterly, Roll Call, the National Journal, and other outlets. He has made regular presentations at the National Press Club and is a political analyst for the CBS affiliate in Minnesota, WCCO.
Nicol Rae is Dean of the College of Letters and Sciences and Professor of Political Science at Montana State University. Dr. Rae holds a doctorate in politics from Oxford University and an undergraduate degree in politics from Edinburgh University. He previously served as the senior associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida International University. His professional administrative experience includes serving as the chair of the Department of Political Science, co-director of the Miami European Union Center and director of European Studies. His scholarship is often cited, and his research interests focus on American national political institutions, comparative political parties and party systems, European government and politics, and conservative politics. He is the author of several books on American politics, including Congress and the Politics of Foreign Policy; Impeaching Clinton: Partisan Strife on Capitol Hill, with Colton C. Campbell; and The Contentious Senate: Partisanship, Ideology, and the Myth of Cool Judgment, with Colton C. Campbell.