On Thursday, March 2, CU 麻豆影院's American Politics Research Lab (APRL) hosted a panel entitled 鈥淭he 2016 Elections: What Just Happened?鈥� One and all were invited to the Old Main Chapel on campus, which filled up with more than 130 students, faculty, and community members at the start of the event.
The hour-long presentation听showcased听research and analysis from four professors, each of them 鈥渟pecialists on voting, campaigns, and the electorate in different ways,鈥� APRL Director Scott Adler said. Sitting on the panel were Jennifer Wolak, from CU 麻豆影院; Seth Masket, from the University of Denver; Jennifer Lawless, from American University; and Anand Sokhey, from CU 麻豆影院.
Each panelist answered the question from a political science perspective; even so, the professors had very different theories on why Trump was victorious over Clinton on Election Day.
Wolak asserted that 鈥渧oters were ready to move in a more conservative direction鈥� in response to recent policies put in place by the Obama administration. She described voter behavior as 鈥渢hermostatic鈥濃�攊n other words, if voters perceive that the government has become too liberal or conservative, they will push back in the other direction.
Masket attributed the Republican win to the economy, showing data to suggest that the American public tends to vote against the incumbent party if the economy is doing poorly. He further stated that 鈥渋t is very hard historically for a party to hold on to the White House for three consecutive terms.鈥�
Lawless posed a follow-up question to the main query of the event: 鈥渋s feminism dead?鈥� Her research suggested听the American public does not have a negative attitude towards feminist policies. However, she concluded that because 鈥渨e did elect Trump,鈥� American voters are 鈥渁pparently more willing to accept sexism than we thought we were.鈥�
Finally, because President Trump received 81 percent of the white evangelical vote, Sokhey focused on white evangelical voters. Sokhey remarked that he found the election results surprising, as white evangelicals 鈥渁re supposed to be religious people鈥� and yet voted for a man who has 鈥渕ade his fortune鈥� through a series of secular investments. This led Sokhey to conclude that white evangelicals did not vote because of 鈥渢raditional issues,鈥� 鈥渢he shared religious identity,鈥� 鈥済ay rights or abortion,鈥� but rather to preserve what he called 鈥渨hite American Christian culture.鈥�
Though the panel provided detailed and thought-provoking explanations, their analyses were not without limitations. The questions the panelists did not ask鈥攁nd the effects this had on their findings鈥攁re worthy of consideration when discussing this on-campus event.
For example, the panelists reached their conclusions without addressing the contentious nature of what The Guardian called the 鈥淐linton legacy in the White House鈥� or the various scandals associated with Clinton鈥攖wo of the six main reasons that, according to The Guardian, Americans cast their votes for Trump.
Even more controversial was Sokhey鈥檚 perspective on the white evangelical voter and, more specifically, the clergymen of white evangelical churches. After only 12 percent of white evangelicals reported that their clergy had made a statement about Trump, Sokhey asked why clergymen 鈥渨eren鈥檛 speaking out鈥� against Trump from the pulpit.
He proceeded to conclude that 鈥渋t would have mattered鈥� to the results of the election if more church leaders made political statements鈥攅ffectively assuming that all clergymen would have given 鈥渘egative messages鈥� about Trump and neglecting to ask which candidate they supported.
Unasked questions like these factored into each expert鈥檚 opinion, leaving 麻豆影院 residents with much to discuss about the 2016 election. For those who cannot understand how the businessman appealed to the American people鈥攁nd how to prevent their next opponent from winning in the future鈥攁sking the right questions is key to reaching the right answers.
Click here to view photos from the event.
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