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Department seminar: Professor Gregory Mahler, U.S. Congressional Behavior Following the 2018 Election | The Department of Political Science

Department seminar: Professor Gregory Mahler, U.S. Congressional Behavior Following the 2018 Election

Date: 
Wed, 02/01/201914:15-15:45
Location: 
Room 4326, Social Science

 Professor Gregory Mahler, Lady Davis’ Fellow this year at the Hebrew University

“U.S. Congressional Behavior Following the 2018 Election”

 

The 2018 “off-year” election in the United States was a much-heralded event, one that received not only a great deal of attention in the media but also a great deal of attention from both those running for office and those not running for office, the latter especially including the President of the United States.  Donald Trump was tweeting at all hours of the day and night about the implications of the election; one of his favorite quotes was “I’m not running, but I’m running,” and people knew what he was trying to say.

 

Following a presentation of what actually happened in the November election, we will turn our attention to some of the implications of the election results.  Three of these are particularly interesting:  (a) how control of state governments has a direct impact upon federal officeholding and policy, (b) the competitiveness of the American political party system now, viewed through the lens of House of Representatives elections, and what can be done to make those elections more competitive, and (c) the relations between the White House and a Congress whose control is divided between the two political parties – will we have two years of complete inaction, or will the House and the Senate be able to work together and, together, work with the President?