2008 Election Roundtable

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Marc Landy, Boston College
Kay Schlozman, Boston College
Alan Wolfe, Boston College

Date:聽November 6, 2008

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Abstract

Join us for a spirited discussion of the results of this historic presidential election. Will Americans elect the nation鈥檚 first black president? It鈥檚 first female vice-president? Will the election returns provide a specific mandate to the winner with regard to the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, national security, immigration, education and healthcare?聽 What role did religion and 鈥渧alues voters鈥 play in the results? Our panel of distinguished 糖心vlog直播平台 political scientists will analyze the election and discuss what the future might hold for the country under new leadership.

Speaker Bios

Marc Landy

Marc Landy聽is Professor of Political Science and Faculty Chair of the Irish Institute at Boston College. In addition to instructing Boston College students, he regularly teaches public officials from Ireland and Northern Ireland about American politics through a series of executive programs run by the Irish Institute. He has written two books with Sidney Milkis,聽American Government: Balancing Democracy and Rights聽(McGraw Hill, 2003); and聽Presidential Greatness聽(Kansas, 2000). He co-edited聽Seeking the Center: Politics and Policymaking at the New Century聽with Martin Levin and Martin Shapiro (Georgetown, 2001) and聽The New Politics of Public Policy聽with Martin Levin (Johns Hopkins, 1995).

Kay Lehman Schlozman

Kay Lehman Schlozman聽serves as J. Joseph Moakley Endowed Professor of Political Science at Boston College. She received a B.A. from Wellesley College and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She is co-author of聽Injury to Insult: Unemployment, Class and Political Response聽(with Sidney Verba);聽Organized Interests and American Democracy聽(with John T. Tierney);聽Voice and Equality: Civic Voluntarism in American Politics聽(with Sidney Verba and Henry E. Brady), which won the American Political Science Association鈥檚 Philip Converse Prize; and, most recently,聽The Private Roots of Public Action: Gender, Equality, and Political Participation聽(with Nancy Burns and Sidney Verba), which was co-winner of the APSA鈥檚 Schuck Prize. She has also written numerous articles in professional journals and is editor of Elections in America. Among her professional activities, she has served as Secretary of the American Political Science Association and as chair of the APSA鈥檚 organized section on Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior. She is the winner of the APSA鈥檚 2004 Rowman and Littlefield Award for Innovative Teaching in Political Science and the 2006 Frank J. Goodnow Distinguished Service Award. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Alan Wolfe

Alan Wolfe聽is the founding director of the Boisi Center and Professor of Political Science at Boston College. He is author of more than a dozen books, including聽The Future of Liberalism聽(Knopf, 2009),聽聽(Yale, 2006),聽聽(Penguin, 1999) and聽聽(Free Press, 2003). Widely considered one of the nation's most prominent public intellectuals, he is a frequent聽contributor to the New聽York Times, Washington Post, and Atlantic Monthly, and has delivered lectures across the United States, Europe and Middle East. (More info on Alan Wolfe...)

Event Photos

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From left to right: Alan Wolfe, Marc Landy, Kay Scholzman

Boisi event

From left to right: Alan Wolfe, Marc Landy, Kay Scholzman

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Alan Wolfe

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Marc Landy

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From left to right: Alan Wolfe, Marc Landy, Kay Scholzman

Event Recap

We hardly need to mention how exciting, important, emotional, and historic the 2008 presidential election was for Americans and indeed citizens of the world. As the global economy shuddered and slumped into a severe recession, Americans fought two wars abroad and debated the future of national security, healthcare, energy policy and education. Barack Obama鈥檚 election heightened expectations鈥攁s well as anxiety鈥攁bout the direction of American politics and public life in the coming years, and the Boisi Center invited its crack team of political analysts to make sense of it all.聽

Alan Wolfe joined his 糖心vlog直播平台 political science colleagues Kay Schlozman and Marc Landy for the event. The panelists agreed that Obama鈥檚 election demonstrated important social progress with regard to racism, though they were less satisfied that Sarah Palin鈥檚 vice-presidential bid represented a blow against sexism. Schlozman argued that, despite Obama鈥檚 commanding win in the electoral college, it is simply too early to tell if a major electoral realignment is in the works. Landy deftly parsed exit polling data, which Wolfe also cited while lamenting the apparent racism revealed in the strong rejection of Obama in counties of the former Confederacy. Wolfe wondered aloud whether the Republican Party that reemerges following this thorough defeat will be more conservative (and primarily Southern) or more moderate. The ensuing conversation with the audience added issues of immigration, gay marriage, media coverage of religion, Obama鈥檚 reputation abroad and Rahm Emanuel鈥檚 selection as White House Chief of Staff. It was, unsurprisingly, a spirited discussion.

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