Expertise & Excellence » political science

Professor, alum earn top honor for collaborative research

Jodi Heintz — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:55:34 +0000

Political science professor Todd Lochner and Rhett Tatum ‘06, along with fellow researcher and political scientist Dorie Apollonio, were recognized by the editorial board of Regulation & Governance for their joint article, Wheat from Chaff: Third Party Monitoring and FEC Enforcement Actions.

Regulation & Governance, a journal devoted to the study of regulation and governance by political scientists, lawyers, historians, anthropologists, and economists, named Wheat from Chaff the best article published in the 2007-2008 volumes of the journal.

In their article, Lochner, Apollonio, and Tatum test the widely held expectation that regulators can more effectively target serious violations when they have a broader array of sanctioning options in their enforcement arsenal. To test this theoretical expectation, Lochner, Apollonio, and Tatum analyze enforcement actions at the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) during the period when the FEC received an expansion in its sanctioning options. What they find runs counter to expectations: the FEC was not better able to focus on the most serious violations after receiving a broader array of sanctions. Lochner, Apollonio, and Tatum suggest that simply expanding sanctioning options, without also expanding monitoring resources, is not sufficient to enable regulators to prioritize their enforcement efforts toward the most serious problems.

Todd Lochner teaches undergraduate courses in constitutional law, civil liberties, and political science. He also teaches a joint undergraduate-law school course on election law at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he is a research fellow. Rhett Tatum is currently a student at the Georgetown University Law Center where he is studying election law.

Read their winning paper.

Lewis & Clark faculty share election expertise

tspeel — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 21:02:03 +0000

Throughout the election season, members of the Lewis & Clark faculty offered their expert analyses of various political races. Weighing issues of race, culture, and history, faculty members have studied the presidential race, as well as congressional races and ballot measures.

Explore this interactive map to learn more about Lewis & Clark faculty members’ contributions to the national political discourse in various media outlets throughout the spring, summer, and fall. The map provides links to full-text versions of more than 30 articles citing Lewis & Clark faculty experts that appeared in newspapers from Detroit to Denver, Washington, D.C. to Seattle, and throughout the Portland metro area.

Recent updates include:

Robert Klonoff, dean of the law school, in the National Law Journal, November 6

Cynthia Cosgrave, teacher education instructor, in Beaverton Valley Times, October 23

Faculty members featured:

*John Callahan, Morgan S. Odell professor of humanities

*Cynthia Cosgrave, teacher education instructor

*Robert Eisinger, associate professor of political science

*Alejandra Favela, assistant professor of education

*Steven Hunt, professor of communication

*James Huffman, Erskine Wood Sr. professor of law

*Robert Klonoff, dean of the law school

*Robert Miller, professor of law

Eisinger and Schleef co-author portfolio risk editorial

tspeel — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:01:41 +0000

Associate Professor of Political Science Robert Eisinger and Associate Professor of Economics Harry Schleef evaluate the conditions and benefits of taking portfolio risks. By eliminating confusing statistical measures of the “risk/return trade-off” and replacing them with the probability of achieving certain dollar amounts and framing risks, investors no longer need to rely on volatility alone.

InvestmentNews (New York, N.Y.) Is volatility the best measure of portfolio risk?

Callahan and Eisinger discuss the importance youth participation has on politics

tspeel — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:08:55 +0000

John Callahan, Morgan Odell Professor of Humanities, and Robert Eisinger, associate professor of political science, recently spoke with the Seattle Post Intelligencer about the exciting injection of youth participation in Oregon politics this election season.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, Wash.) Obama gets young people back in the race

Retirement research draws attention in New York Times

Anne — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:34:58 +0000

A published paper by Harry Schleef, associate professor of economics, and Robert Eisinger, associate professor of political science, entitled “Hitting or Missing the Retirement Target: Comparing Contributions and Asset Allocation Schemes of Simulated Portfolios,” was the centerpiece of a New York Times column on investment strategies. Read more here.

The New York Times (New York, N.Y.) The odds for a retirement nest egg, recalculated

Junior earns Truman Scholarship for public service

Anne — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:04:24 +0000

Ben Brysacz, a junior political science major, has earned the nation’s top prize for undergraduate leadership. Brysacz received one of 65 Truman scholarships awarded this year, an honor which brings up to $30,000 for graduate study, leadership training, and fellowship with other students who are committed to making a difference through public service. Listen to a podcast about this award.

Associate Professor Robert Eisinger analyzes role of superdelegates in Democratic nomination

Anne — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 21:05:06 +0000

Associate professor of Political Science Robert Eisinger provides insight about the role superdelegates will play in determining the Democratic Party’s nomination.

The Denver Post (Denver, Colo.) Democrats fear brokered convention

Associate Professor of Political Science Robert Eisinger considers significance of Oregon primary

Anne — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:28:09 +0000

Associate Professor of Political Sciences Robert Eisinger’s editorial about the potential significance of Oregon’s May primary considers how close contests in both the Republican and Democratic parties are changing the typical momentum of the primary process.