“Biden will have a full box on his desk, but the first item is the coronavirus,” said Levitsky. Biden is also expected to lift the Muslim ban, stop construction of the border wall, and prevent family separations at the border. Through these and...
"First and foremost, I think he wants to send a message of unity. Americans have been more divided in the last four years than we've been in a long time. The first thing Biden would like to do is bring us back together," said Hanson. Among early...
Towsley Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali, who spent his career in counterterrorism, including as a former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, said the massive and unprecedented security measures taken in advance...
As the Biden administration embarks on its first hundred days, experts from the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy have produced a series of policy briefs in their areas of expertise.
All of the prepared briefs can be downloaded...
As California begins its transition to a battery powered electrical grid, Catherine Hausman comments that "these large-scale batteries can bring a real boost to grid reliability, and they can support zero-carbon electricity's integration into the...
While COVID-19 has made traditional forms of sharing poetry more difficult, Molly Spencer comments that "one of the gifts of this time, if we have to be in a time where we can't gather...the internet...has connected poets who otherwise wouldn't be...
"What an incredibly important and forward-thinking move to include social perspectives on science and tech policy in the office," said Shobita Parthasarathy about Alondra Nelson, the new deputy director for science and society in the White House...
"This is the boldest vision laid out by an American president for fighting poverty, and child poverty in particular, in at least half a century," said Luke Shaefer.
Read Kristof's opinion in the New York...
"They're signaling that the rule of law matters," Bednar said. "But there may also be a downside if they're shown to be supportive of some of these members of Congress who later end up being implicated in the events of last week, so disassociating...
Towsley Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali has been sought-after by news outlets around the world for his expertise in the wake of the attack on the Capitol.
Excerpts
The National
While the purge disrupted communication among extremist...
An article in Bridge magazine about funding for replacing lead pipes notes that, "Often, the communities with the biggest backlog of upgrades and fixes are the least-equipped financially to pay for them. As a result, they must raise rates. That...
MLive reports, "A 20-person University of Michigan task force will examine what’s working and what improvements need to be made with the university’s Division of Public Safety and Security. The "Advancing Public Safety at the University of Michigan...
Hanson told Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper, that any self-pardon would be controversial and probably end up in front of the Supreme Court. The court has a majority of conservative judges – three of whom are appointed by Trump. “From...
In an essay in Caribbean Business, Pineiro says recent referendums have been non-binding and a waste of money. "Past results in status referendums have been closely split, with low participation rates and thousands of blank ballots as a form of...
Ford School professor Earl Lewis joined Stephanie Fryberg as recipients of two $5 million grants through The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Just Futures Initiative competition. The grants will fund projects that focus on addressing racial...
The debate over the removal of Jim Crow-era statues of Confederate leaders in cities across the country, including two in the U.S. Capitol building itself, and the 2018 opening of the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in...
Watkins-Hayes commented in an article in the Detroit Free Press about reluctance in the Black community in Detroit to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. "These racial and class differences are both disconcerting and yet completely understandable and...
“The only thing I can say about it, it was poor judgment, ill-advised and shows very little knowledge or respect for the history and tradition of presidential succession in the country. He should be called out for it,” Schwarz told Michigan...
Stevenson tells CNN the impact of the pandemic is a triple punch for women.
"They're just disproportionately likely to hold the kinds of jobs we needed to send people home from," said Stevenson. "Women do a lot of caring jobs, in-person jobs....
Davenport and Stanford University professor Sarah Soule write in Business Insider, "As President-elect Joe Biden nears inauguration, police reform remains top of mind for many Americans. Biden's criminal justice plan focuses on community crime...
In a letter published by the Project on Government Oversight, Ford School lecturer Joe Schwarz joined 30 other Republican former members of the House of Representatives in calling for the impeachment of President Trump, saying, in part, "There is no...
Education Week released their 11th annual RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings—the top 200 university-based scholars who shape education practice and policy. Ford School professors Brian Jacob and Susan M. Dynarski were two of the four...
Since 2002, the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Program has brought national and international leaders to campus as Ford School faculty.
For the winter 2021 semester, the Ford School welcomes two additional...
Hanson, a former congressional legislative assistant, told MLive, “What I’m surprised about is how easy it was for them to break into the Capitol and sort of rampage around in offices on the Senate floor.”
“I was taken aback how ill-prepared the...
Bednar told MLive that antigovernment actions earlier in 2020 in Michigan had created an environment that led to the storming of Congress on January 6th.
“Do you remember the day when there were several men who entered the Senate gallery in...
Speaking to The National Interest, Bednar said, “Our laws and the Constitution itself depend on a belief that those who violate them will be punished. Many lawmakers have condemned the president’s role in inciting the attack on the Capitol. If they...
Read Celeste Watkins-Hayes' op-ed in the Detroit Free Press below. In winter 2021, Watkins-Hayes will teach a graduate course, PubPol 750: Interview Methods, and an undergraduate course, SOC 295: Pandemics: Social Dimensions of HIV and...
The seeds of the violence that took place in Washington, DC, on January 6, can be traced back to President Trump’s rhetoric in his 2016 campaign, his statements during the re-election campaign over the summer, and even to the Michigan statehouse...
Ford School Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Javed Ali said the political violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 followed a tumultuous and politically-polarizing year in Michigan. He told Bridge the chaos was driven in many ways by the...
"There are a lot of complicated laws governing elections and they can be confusing both to voters and to poll workers," according to Tom Ivacko. “Some of the recent changes have added to the complexity and the need for voters to really do their...
