Politics 2021
Northwestern University experts are available to comment on the Presidential transition, Biden's first 100 days and more
- Updated: December 23, 2020
Northwestern University experts are available to discuss a wide range of political issues, from President Elect Joe Biden's plans for his first 100 days to what is in store for President Donald J. Trump after he leaves office.
Related: Professors in the fields of history, political science, psychology and more are available to provide analysis and commentary on the riots in the U.S. Capitol.
Connect with faculty directly using the contact information below, or reach out to media relations for assistance.
Inauguration and the transition
Election law
Experts on U.S. electoral processes, pardon laws and other issues related to presidential law and ethics
Research
38% of Americans lack confidence in election fairness - December 23
To better understand the reasons why some Americans distrust the election process, respondents were asked about their level of concern regarding voter suppression, intimidation, inaccurate or biased counts and interference.
Media Advisories
Experts
Michael Kang, PhD, JD
Expert in campaign and election law
William and Virginia Karnes Research Professor of Law
- Election law
- Voting rights and redistricting
- Campaign finance
- Judicial elections
*Only available for interviews with print/online outlets
Joshua Kleinfeld
Expert on democratic norms and procedures
Professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- Threats to democracy
- Partisanship and party politics
Juliet Sorensen
Expert on corruption and obstruction
Clinical Professor of Law
- Public corruption
- Obstruction of justice
- Criminal law
- Health and human rights
Daniel B. Rodriguez
Expert on constitutional law
Harold Washington Professor of Law
- Administrative law
- Local government law
- Statutory interpretation
- Federal and state constitutional law
- Law-business-technology interface
Michael Conway
Expert on presidential politics
Adjunct lecturer in journalism
- Presidential politics
- Ethics and law
Cabinet and political appointees
Experts on Biden's appointments to the cabinet, federal courts and other high-profile political positions
Experts
Brett Gadsden
Expert on the politics of Joe Biden
Associate professor of history
- American history
- Black political and social history
- Segregation, inequality and racial discrimination
- Politics of Joe Biden
Michael Conway
Expert on presidential politics
Adjunct lecturer in journalism
- Presidential politics
- Ethics and law
Alvin B. Tillery Jr.
Expert on American politics
Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy
- American politics
- Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
- Media and politics
- Public opinion
- Political communication and political participation
Jaime Dominguez
Expert on politics affecting minority populations
Associate Professor of Instruction, Political Science
- American politics
- Urban politics
- Latino politics
- Chicago politics
- Immigration
- Race and ethnicity
Martin Redish
Expert on constitutional law
Louis and Harriet Ancel Professor of Law and Public Policy at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- Federal jurisdiction
- Civil procedure
- Freedom of expression
- Constitutional law
Daniel B. Rodriguez
Expert on constitutional law
Harold Washington Professor of Law
- Administrative law
- Local government law
- Statutory interpretation
- Federal and state constitutional law
- Law-business-technology interface
Laurel Harbridge-Yong
Expert on partisan conflict in American politics
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Political Science
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research
- American politics
- U.S. Congress and Congressional elections
- Political parties and partisan conflict
- Public opinion
- Political communication
Juliet Sorensen
Expert on corruption and obstruction
Clinical Professor of Law
- Public corruption
- Obstruction of justice
- Criminal law
- Health and human rights
Doug Kiel
Expert on Native American history and politics
Assistant Professor, Department of History and Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Native American and Indigenous Research
- Can discuss historic appointment of Deb Haaland, the first woman and first Indigenous Secretary of the Interior
- Native American history and politics
- Indigeneity
- Settler Colonialism
- 20th century Indigenous studies
Government relations and partisan dynamics
Experts on inter-branch government relations, the U.S. system of checks and balances and the partisan divide in Washington
Research
Experts
Laurel Harbridge-Yong
Expert on partisan conflict in American politics
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Department of Political Science
Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research
- American politics
- U.S. Congress and Congressional elections
- Political parties and partisan conflict
- Public opinion
- Political communication
Eli Finkel
Expert on partisan dynamics among voters
Professor of Psychology and of Management and Organizations
- Political sectarianism
- Author of a study finding that negative feelings for an opposing party outweigh positive feelings for one's own party
Daniel Abrams
Expert on polarization and public opinion formation
Associate professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics
- Worked on the first quantitative model that captures how politicized environments affect U.S. political opinion formation and evolution
- Framework breaks opinion change into perceptions and reactions, investigating biases such as tribalism and 'media bubbles'
- Model could simulate interventions to explore how to impact polarization and foster unity
Joshua Kleinfeld
Expert on democratic norms and procedures
Professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
- Threats to democracy
- Partisanship and party politics
Alvin B. Tillery Jr.
Expert on American politics
Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy
- American politics
- Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
- Media and politics
- Public opinion
- Political communication and political participation
Presidential norms
Experts on the politics of Biden, Trump and past presidential norms and history
Media Advisories
Experts
Brett Gadsden
Expert on the politics of Joe Biden
Associate professor of history
- American history
- Black political and social history
- Segregation, inequality and racial discrimination
- Politics of Joe Biden
Peter Slevin
Expert on first ladies, particularly Michelle Obama
Professor of Journalism
- Politics and political messaging
- "Post-Truth Politics"
- The role of media in Donald Trump's presidency
- The Obamas, especially Michelle Obama
Jon H. Marshall
Expert on relationships between presidents and journalists
Associate Professor
- Relationship between presidents and journalists, especially in times of crisis
- Author of "Watergate's Legacy and the Press: The investigative Impulse" (Northwestern University Press, 2011)
- Media history
Michael Conway
Expert on presidential politics
Adjunct lecturer in journalism
- Presidential politics
- Ethics and law
Michael J. Allen
Expert on U.S. political history
Associate professor of history
- Modern U.S. history
- 20th century U.S. political and diplomatic history
- Presidential politics
Life after the presidency
Experts on the lawsuits President Trump is likely to face after leaving office, his likelihood to run in 2024 and his continued impact on the Republican party
Media Advisories
Experts
Juliet Sorensen
Expert on corruption and obstruction
Clinical Professor of Law
- Public corruption
- Obstruction of justice
- Criminal law
- Health and human rights
Dan P. McAdams
Expert on the psychology of Donald J. Trump
The Henry Wade Rogers Professor of Psychology
Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Department of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
School of Education and Social Policy
Peter Slevin
Expert on the role of media in the Trump White House
Professor of Journalism
- Politics and political messaging
- "Post-Truth Politics"
- The role of media in Donald Trump's presidency
- The Obamas, especially Michelle Obama
Alvin B. Tillery Jr.
Expert on American politics
Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy
- American politics
- Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
- Media and politics
- Public opinion
- Political communication and political participation
Biden's First 100 Days
COVID-19
Experts on the federal government's COVID-19 response, including vaccine rollout plans, economic stimulus deals and more
BROWSE ALL COVID-19 EXPERTS
Experts
Robert Murphy, MD
Expert on infectious diseases and global pandemics
Executive Director, Institute for Global Health
Director, Center for Global Communicable Diseases
John Philip Phair Professor of Infectious Diseases
- Studies the physical symptoms of COVID-19, how diseases spread and the public health response
- Can discuss how this pandemic compares to previous disease outbreaks
Dr. Kelly Michelson
Expert on medical ethics and public health policy
Professor of Pediatrics
Julia and David Uihlein Professor of Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Director, Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Attending Physician in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
- Medical ethics surrounding vaccine distribution and other public health measures
Jaline Gerardin
Expert in infectious disease modeling
Assistant professor of epidemiology at Feinberg
- Works on predictive models for the COVID-19 outbreak, helping to inform public health response
- Previously she served as the malaria lead at the Institute for Disease Modeling in Seattle, working on models to treat, prevent and eliminate malaria across diverse endemic settings
Erik Nisbet
Expert on health information bias
Owen L. Coon Endowed Professor of Policy Analysis & Communication; director of Northwestern's Center for Communication and Public Policy
- How strongly held partisan, national, religious or ethnic identities bias the processing of information and messaging, and the consequences for policy attitudes and behavior
- Causes and consequences of online information-seeking and expression in authoritarian or non-democratic contexts
- How macro contextual factors interact with individual differences or behaviors to explain heterogeneity in communication processes and outcomes
- Governance and elections
- International security
- Public policy in the areas of science, technology and environmental policy
- Communication strategies
- Public opinion
Hector G Carrillo, DrPH
Expert on social aspects of health behavior
Professor of Sociology and Gender & Sexuality Studies
Co-Director, The Sexualities Project at Northwestern (SPAN)
- Social aspects of health promotion and prevention
- Public health policy
- Medical social sciences
James Druckman
Expert on public opinion of COVID-19 impact and response
Payson S. Wild Professor of Political Science and associate director of Northwestern's Institute for Policy Research
- Leads the "COVID States Project," an ongoing public opinion survey around COVID-19 issues including vaccination and institutional response
Beth Redbird, Ph.D.
Expert on public opinion of COVID-19 impact and response
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Scott Baker
Expert on the impact of economic stimulus plans
Assistant Professor of Finance
Phillip Braun
Expert on pandemic economic response strategies
Clinical professor of finance at Kellogg
- Economic bailouts and stimulus plans
- Loan forgiveness
- Wall Street accountability
- Foreign trade policy and pandemic impact on global markets
Hannes Schwandt
Expert on the recession's impact on young workers
Assistant professor of human development and social policy in the School of Education and Social Policy; fellow at the Institute for Policy Research
- Impact of the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on young workers
- Labor market entry
- Recessions
- Health inequality and life expectancy
Ian Hurd
Expert on international relations
Professor of Political Science
- How nations' pandemic response impacts their standing on the world stage
Racial equality
Experts
Alvin B. Tillery Jr.
Expert on contemporary social movements
Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies
Director, Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy
- American politics
- Racial and ethnic politics/ Black Lives Matter
- Media and politics
- Public opinion
- Political communication and political participation
Christine Percheski
Expert on demographic inequality
Assistant professor of sociology
- Demographic trends in social inequality, health, employment and family dynamics
Brett Gadsden
Expert on history of racial discrimination
Associate professor of history
- American history
- Black political and social history
- Segregation, inequality and racial discrimination
- Politics of Joe Biden
Clyde W. Yancy, MD
Expert on historic and COVID-19 health disparities
Vice Dean for Diversity and Inclusion
Chief of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine
Magerstadt Professor
Professor of Medical Social Sciences
Associate Director, Northwestern Medicine’s Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute
- History and impact of health disparities, particularly on the African American community
- COVID-19's impact on minority populations
Steven Thrasher
Expert on civil rights and health disparities
Daniel H. Renberg Chair of social justice in reporting (with an emphasis on issues relevant to the LGBTQ community) and an assistant professor of journalism
- Civil rights relating to race, LGBTQ, disability, gender and economic classes
- Civil rights and activist history, specifically Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street
- Impact of HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, COVID-19 and the opioids crisis
- Addiction and drug policy, access to medicine, and social access to healthcare
- Representations in media, both news and fictional
Environment
Expert on climate change policy and the economic impact of proposals such as the Green New Deal
Experts
Brad Sageman
Expert on climate change and sustainable energy
Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Climate change
- Ocean acidification
- Climate policy
- Sustainable energy
Daniel Horton
Expert on human impact on climate
Assistant Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences
Principal Investigator, Climate Change Research Group
- Link between climate change and extreme weather
- Electric vehicles
- Human adaptation to climate change
Jennifer Dunn
Expert on environmental impacts of emerging technologies
Research Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
Director of Research and Senior Fellow, Northwestern Argonne Institute of Science and Engineering (NAISE)
- Biofuels, bioproducts and batteries
- Fuels and chemicals made from waste
- Plastic pollution
Aaron Packman
Expert on water pollution, scarcity and drought
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Director of Northwestern Center for Water Research
- COVID-19 in wastewater
- Urban water management and flooding
- Waterborne disease transmission
Yarrow Axford
Expert on polar climate and ice melt
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Greenland's glaciers and ice sheet
- Rising global sea levels
Neal Blair
Expert on the carbon cycle
Professor of civil and environmental engineering and of Earth and planetary sciences
- Human impact on the carbon cycle
- Agriculture and deforestation
- Natural methane production
Economics and foreign policy
Experts on U.S. fiscal policy, stimulus plans, tax reform and more
Experts
Janice C. Eberly
Expert on economic policy
James R. and Helen D. Russell Professor of Finance; faculty director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative
- Former Chief Economist at the U.S. Treasury, leading analysis of U.S. and global economies and financial markets and developing policy recommendations on micro and macroeconomic issues
- Studies household consumption and portfolio choices, and their impact on the macroeconomy
Ben Harris
Expert on fiscal policy
Executive director of the Kellogg Public-Private Initiative; visiting associate professor at Kellogg
- Fiscal policy
- Bailouts and Wall Street accountability
- Tax, budget and retirement security
- Former chief economist and economic adviser to the Vice President of the United States
Seema Jayachandran
Expert on economic impact of policy
Professor of Economics
- Political economy
- Labor markets
- Policies aimed at closing economic gender gaps
- Economics of environmental conservation and climate change
- Global development
Phillip Braun
Expert on pandemic economic response strategies
Clinical professor of finance at Kellogg
- Economic bailouts and stimulus plans
- Loan forgiveness
- Wall Street accountability
- Foreign trade policy and pandemic impact on global markets
Scott Baker
Expert on the impact of economic stimulus plans
Assistant Professor of Finance
Hannes Schwandt
Expert on the recession's impact on young workers
Assistant professor of human development and social policy in the School of Education and Social Policy; fellow at the Institute for Policy Research
- Impact of the recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly on young workers
- Labor market entry
- Recessions
- Health inequality and life expectancy
David Besanko
Expert on the economic impact of government regulations
IBM Professor of Regulation & Competitive Practices
- Economics of regulation
- Intersection of competitive strategy and public policy
- Theory of the firm
Diane Schanzenbach
Expert on social welfare policy
Margaret Walker Alexander Professor of Human Development and Social Policy
Director, Institute for Policy Research
- Food insecurity and rising inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Importance of the social safety net in times of crisis
Thomas Hubbard
Expert on income inequality
Elinor and H. Wendell Hobbs Professor of Management; professor of strategy at Kellogg
- Causes and economic impact of income inequality
Christine Percheski
Expert on census methods
Assistant professor of sociology
- Census methods and impact
- Demographic voting trends
- Demographic trends in social inequality, health, employment and family dynamics
Olga Kamenchuck
Expert on Russian-American relations
Associate Research Professor, Institute for Policy Research
Senior Lecturer, School of Communication
- Expert in Russian-American relations, opinion polling, public diplomacy and national security
- Former director of international research and communications for the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), the largest research and polling organization in the former Soviet Union
- Former co-director of the Eurasian Security and Governance Program at the Ohio State University Mershon Center for International Security Studies
- Co-principal investigator on the Comparative National Elections Project for Russian, Ukrainian and Serbian electoral studies
Ian Hurd
Expert on international relations
Professor of Political Science
- How nations' pandemic response impacts their standing on the world stage
- Law and politics of the United Nations and other international organizations, including public policy
- Politics of legitimacy and how it is created, used, and contested in international relations
- Legal authority and political controversies of the world’s most important international institutions
Healthcare policy
Experts on the Affordable Care Act, Medicare for All and other healthcare policy proposals
Experts
Craig Garthwaite
Expert on healthcare economics
Associate Professor of Strategy
- Healthcare policy, including the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid
- Public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Ethical drug and vaccine pricing
Amanda Starc
Expert on healthcare economics
Associate Professor of Strategy
- Medicare
- Consumer behavior in health insurance exchanges
David A. Matsa
Expert on Medicaid expansion
Professor of Finance
- Published study on lessons learned from Maine's 2017 Medicaid expansion referendum
Steven Thrasher
Expert on social access to healthcare
Daniel H. Renberg Chair of Social Justice Reporting; assistant professor of journalism; core faculty member of the Institute of Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing
- Impact of HIV/AIDS, infectious disease, COVID-19 and the opioids crisis
- Drug policy, access to medicine, and social access to healthcare
- Civil rights relating to race, LGBTQ, disability, gender and economic classes
- Civil rights and activist history, specifically Black Lives Matter and Occupy Wall Street
- Representations of police in fiction
Andrew Koppelman
Expert on the legality of the Affordable Care Act
John Paul Stevens Professor of Law
- Health care policy/Affordable Care Act
- Constitutional law
- First Amendment rights
Immigration
Experts on DACA, government efforts to reunite families separated at the border and immigration policy
Experts
Jacqueline Stevens
Expert on immigration law
Founding Director, Deportation Research Clinic, Buffett Institute for Global Affairs
Professor, Political Science Department
Legal Studies, Faculty Advisory Committee
- Deportation and immigration law
- Citizenship law and history
- Sovereignty and the rule of law
Jaime Dominguez
Expert on politics affecting minority populations
Associate Professor of Instruction, Political Science
- American politics
- Urban politics
- Latino politics
- Chicago politics
- Immigration
- Race and ethnicity
Geraldo Cadava
Expert on Latino politics
Associate professor of history
- The Latino vote
- Latinos and the Republican party
- Immigration
- U.S.-Mexico borderlands
- Watergate
- The 2016 presidential election
- Author of "The Hispanic Republican: The Shaping of an American Political Identity, from Nixon to Trump"
Daniel Aobdia
Expert on economics of immigration
Associate Professor of Accounting Information & Management
- Role of high-skilled immigration, culture and tools in organizations
- Economic impact of government regulation
Jorg Spenkuch
Expert on immigration policy
Associate Professor of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences
Faculty Affiliate, Ford Motor Company Center for Global Citizenship
Kellogg School of Management
Fellow, Workforce Science Project
Pritzker School of Law