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Research shows racial bias influences views of Obama.

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The Iowa Caucuses are still several months out, but a University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll released today suggests that Iowans aren't completely sold on the preliminary roster of GOP candidates.

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Obama in Office from American University professor James Thurber analyzes President Obama’s successes, failures in his first two years.

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Odette Lienau, an expert on international economic relations and an assistant professor of Law at Cornell University, comments on the recent announcement that Standard & Poor’s will revise the United States credit rating from “stable” to “negative.”

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Most Americans now agree that climate change is occurring, but still disagree on why, with opinions about the cause of climate change defined by political party, not scientific understanding, according to new research from the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

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Study validates new research method with implications in psychology, political science, business.

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It's always better when government does its business in the sunshine, but a University of Iowa law professor says the debate about health care rationing could benefit from a little less openness.

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Robert Hockett, international finance expert and professor of Law at Cornell University, comments on President Obama’s speech today about the federal budget.

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Sean Nicholson, professor of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University, Research Director of the Upstate Health Research Network, and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, explains the House GOP plan to reduce federal spending by overhauling Medicare.

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Contented people are more likely to vote than unhappy ones, according to a study co-authored by a Baylor University researcher. Dr. Patrick Flavin, an assistant professor of political science at Baylor, also found that discontented individuals are no more likely to take part in political protests.

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Dr. Arterton has been actively involved in politics at the national level and is an expert in political institutions and political leadership. He oversees the GW Battleground Poll. He has served as a polling consultant for "Newsweek" and a consultant on public opinion surveys for the Gallup Organization.

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Three high-profile panelists will share their views on how science, the media, politics and society interact and, perhaps more importantly, what scientists themselves can do to communicate more effectively and restore their credibility.

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A government shutdown is looming and many politicians who are claiming “we’re broke” are proposing short-term or long-term federal budget plans with steep budget cuts as the only option to reduce the deficit. “But it looks like budget deficits are being driven in part by a deliberate strategy to sustain them, so policymakers are forced to cut spending,” says Timothy McBride, PhD, economist and associate dean for public health at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “The evidence certainly supports the theory that the Republicans are using a strategy of ‘starving the beast,’” he says.

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Harold Bierman, Jr., an expert on taxation and Professor of Management at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management, comments on the inefficiency of federal income tax law and the need to completely revise it.

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The meltdown of private pension plans, 401(k)s and Individual Retirement Accounts during the recession demonstrates that Social Security is more essential than ever, says Merton C. Bernstein, LLB, the Walter D. Coles Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. Bernstein discussed the crucial role of Social Security in a report for the university’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy. According to Bernstein, Social Security is on course to provide full benefits to its expected beneficiaries through 2036 due to its multi-trillion dollar trust fund.

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Francis J. DiSalvo, director of Cornell University’s Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future and professor of physical science, comments on President Obama’s call to reduce foreign oil imports by one-third in the next decade.

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In the wake of the removal of the mural depicting Mount Holyoke College alumna Frances Perkins and other historic labor leaders from the Maine Department of Labor building, College President Lynn Pasquerella has faxed a letter of protest to that state's governor, Paul LePage.

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Survey results suggest that the tea party is taking its philosophy in directions far more extreme than those of average conservatives.

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As figures from the 2010 census are released, political scientist Todd Shields of the University of Arkansas is available to discuss findings from the 2010 Blair-Rockefeller Poll that offer insight into changing U.S. demographics. The poll revealed uneven economic hardships across race and region and shifting support for the Democratic Party among American elderly.

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Last November, Missouri voters approved Proposition B, which amended state law to more strictly regulate large-scale dog breeders. Now, just four months later, Prop B is set to be repealed if the Missouri House of Representatives and Gov. Jay Nixon follow the state senate’s lead. Can this happen in every state? Only if the voters allow it, says Gregory Magarian, JD, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis and an expert on constitutional law.

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As figures from the 2010 census are released, political scientist Angie Maxwell of the University of Arkansas is available to discuss demographics of Tea Party members and their opinions on political and social issues, both in the South and nationally. She draws on findings from the 2010 Blair-Rockefeller Poll.

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Mildred Warner, Cornell professor in city and regional planning, is an expert on privatizing government services. Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, recently suggested privatizing certain government services. Warner comments on Gov. Walker’s proposals.

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Published in December by the University of Chicago Press, “Why Iowa?” argues that Iowa has a major influence on the presidential nomination -– perhaps too much so. The book calls for reform that would preserve the best aspects of caucusing but create a national primary to give the entire country a say in the nominations.

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Passive news reporting that doesn’t attempt to resolve factual disputes in politics may have detrimental effects on readers, new research suggests.

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Despite the fears of some, a new study suggests that use of the internet in general does not make people more likely to believe political rumors. But e-mail is a special case. However, one form of internet communication – e-mail – does seem to have troubling consequences for the spread and belief of rumors.

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American Thoracic Society President Dean E. Schraufnagel, MD, expressed his opposition to legislation introduced today by Senator James Inhofe (R-OK) and Representative Fred Upton (R-MI) to prohibit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from issuing rules on carbon pollution and other greenhouse gases.

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The public is on a different page with regard to the federal budget than either the House of Representatives or the Obama Administration, bringing a different set of priorities and a greater willingness to increase some domestic spending and taxes, concludes a new analysis by the University of Maryland’s Program for Public Consultation (PPC).

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Tracy Mitrano, Cornell University’s director of IT Policy and director of Cornell’s Computer Policy and Law Programs, calls on the public to raise its voice in light of the scheduled vote Wednesday by a House subcommittee to rescind the FCC’s December 2010 “Net Neutrality” regulations.

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s move to strip or significantly narrow his state’s public-sector workers’ collective bargaining rights has significant implications for all unionized workers, both in the public and private sector, says Marion Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law and director of the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Work & Social Capital.

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With many Americans concerned about rising gas prices, state budgets and inflation — and with battle lines drawn in several states between governments and unions — the U.S. can expect more social media “wars’ in the near future.

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Despite the decade's reputation as an era of conservatism, a historian from Bryant University says the political left thrived through reinvigorated campus activism that initiated divestment; a pop culture that promoted social conscience; and new technologies like those embraced by ACT UP.

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The Supreme Court should affirm the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, says law professor Greg Magarian, JD, because the act fits comfortably within a proper understanding of the federal-state balance of power. Magarian, a constitutional law expert, weighs in on the challenge to the health care bill.

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A new policy research brief released today by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services examines the characteristics of patients whose access to health center services is at risk because of a potential $1.3 billion in direct spending cuts for community health centers. The cuts were approved by the United States House of Representatives on February 20, 2011, as part of legislation to trim $61 billion in discretionary spending for the remainder of fiscal year 2011.

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New book by Bryant U. professor surveys the mushrooming field of political parody: the parodist news show, the politically motivated satiric documentary, and ironic activism.

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The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) strongly opposes the proposed $1.6 billion reduction to the NIH budget included in the continuing resolution (fiscal year 2011) being debated in the House of Representatives. The nation’s longstanding commitment to better health has established the United States as a world leader in medical research and innovation. This leading position will be endangered should the 5.2 percent decrease in the NIH budget be implemented.

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Mitt Romney is the early frontrunner for the 2012 Republican nomination for president among New Hampshire Republicans. However, the great majority of voters are undecided about who they will eventually support, according to the latest poll by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

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In the first published study of its kind, social scientists at Tufts University have found that vitriol is endemic among commentators of all political stripes, but worse on the political right, and is more prevalent than it was even during the turmoil of the war in Viet Nam and the Watergate scandal.

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Edward G. Lengel, editor-in-chief of the Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, is available for commentary about the Father of Our Country, whose 279th birthday will be observed Feb. 22. Lengel is the author of "Inventing George Washington: America's Founder in Myth and Memory," published Jan. 18 by Harper.

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Innovation leaders will educate the 112th Congress about innovation at the 2011 Innovation Coalition Fly-In Meeting, February 16, 2011. Lawmakers and their staffs will be briefed about the innovation process and why innovation is so important in creating a thriving economy.

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When average Americans are presented the federal budget in some detail, most can cut the deficit dramatically and solve the Social Security shortfall. "Given information and a chance to sort through their options, most Americans do better than most politicians," says UMD Senior Research Scholar Steven Kull. Try the exercise yourself online.

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R. Richard Geddes, associate professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell University and author of “The Road to Renewal: Private Investment in U.S. Transportation Infrastructure,” raises doubts about President Obama’s call for the development of an intercity high-speed rail network in the United States.

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Obama may be first black president at1600 Pennsylvania Ave, but the black history of the White House traces a black presence back to America’s very first president.

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The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) today praised President Obama’s call for a renewed focus on education and innovation issues, as he stated in yesterday’s State of the Union address.

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President Obama is rebooting his administration in the State of the Union Address, “fundamentally resetting” his course, says Donald Kettl, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and author of “Next Government of the United States.” “This is… a strategy of trying to get to the middle before the Republicans can get there,” Kettl explains.

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Jonathan Adler, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve School of Law, testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial, and Administrative Law regarding proposed legislation to assert greater legislative control over regulatory policy.

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Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Representatives Chris Gibson (NY-20) and Timothy J. Walz (MN-1) will deliver keynote addresses at the Feb. 11-12 Workshop.

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President Obama will laud some of his administration's accomplishments in tonight's State of the Union address, but Iowa State University's political science chair reports mixed reviews on the president's foreign policy performance.

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When the Senate convenes Tuesday, Jan. 25, it is expected to weigh a resolution to reform the filibuster rule and eliminate secret holds — protocols that many have blamed for encouraging congressional gridlock. Although the proposal is put forth by members of the Senate’s Democratic majority, it contains a series of relatively modest changes that should hold some appeal to the Senate’s Republican minority, suggests congressional expert Steven S. Smith of Washington University in St. Louis.

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Women in Congress deliver more federal projects to their home districts than men do, even when controlling for such factors as party affiliation and ideology. Congresswomen also sponsor and co–sponsor more legislation than their male counterparts, the authors found. The study has recently been accepted for publication at the American Journal of Political Science.

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The new Maryland legislature significantly under-represents women compared to the general population, though African American membership is less out of balance, finds a new University of Maryland study. “Minority candidates are quite effective at winning elections, but there aren’t enough seeking office,” said UMD researcher Paul Herrnson.