Department of Political Science
Old Main 428
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone: (479) 575-3356
Fax: (479) 575-6432
News
Students:
Preston Caldwell will pursue a bachelor of arts degree in political science and economics with plans of attending law school following his undergraduate career. Preston graduated from Batesville High School, where he was active in band, cross-country, golf and quiz bowl. Active in state and national politics, Preston organized a schoolwide debate around the 2008 presidential elections, served as a page during the March 2007 state legislature and campaigned throughout Arkansas in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections. His parents are Rita Cooke and Dr. David Caldwell.
A graduate of Mountain Home High School, Robert “Bobby” Howard will major in political science, international relations, and economics, and plans to pursue a doctorate in economics in the future. His ultimate goal is working in the U.S. Department of State, drafting economics legislation to protect free trade. At Mountain Home High, Bobby participated in student council, quiz bowl, the German Club and band. Bobby has been active in Boy Scouts of America, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout in 2006, and has consistently held leadership positions throughout the organization. His parents are John and Becky Howard.
Abel Albarran has been awarded The Gene E. McKissic Endowed Scholarship. Gene E. McKissic, an attorney with Cross, Kearney and McKissic of Pine Bluff, Ark., has pledged $25,000 for the Gene E. McKissic Endowed Scholarship. He was the first black president of the UA Associated Student Government. McKissic graduated from Fulbright College in 1974 in political science and received his law degree from the UA School of Law in 1976. He has served on the Arkansas Alumni Association board of directors and was a contributor to the Old Main renovation fund and the new Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House.
Faculty:
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Persuadable Voter: Wedge Issues and Presidential Campaigns by political scientist Todd Shields has been chosen the winner of the 2009 Robert E. Lane Award for the best book published in political psychology in 2009, given by the political psychology section of the American Political Science Association.
The award committee praised the book as providing “a crisp and compelling account of how attitudinal ambivalence influences the dynamics of American elections. It is innovative, insightful, and a pleasure to read.”
In Science, David A.M. Peterson reviewed the book as “path-breaking,” reminding readers that “overall, the outcome of elections and the face of politics hinge on the ability of parties, candidates, and voters to adapt to each other and to the changing nature of political appeals.”
Shields, political science professor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, and co-author D. Sunshine Hillygus of Duke University, dedicated the book to Diane Blair, whose legacy is honored through the Diane D. Blair Center for Southern Politics and Society in Fulbright College. Blair, former professor of political science at the university, was a mentor to Shields when he was an assistant professor, demonstrating to him the direct link between research and politics with her work during the 1996 presidential campaign.
“Elections are the primary mechanism by which citizens in a democracy express their wants and desires to their elected officials, and it is through political campaigns that this interaction is managed," Hillygus and Shields wrote.
Politicians and the public engage in a reciprocal relationship, according to Shields and Hillygus. Information about the voters shapes campaign messages, and those messages, in turn, influence the decisions voters make. This reciprocal relationship is dictated by the information each has about the other. To understand the health of the relationship between officials and the public, it is important to understand how information is gathered and delivered during election campaigns, to whom and to what end.
In researching The Persuadable Voter, Shields and Hillygus examined campaigns and candidates, primarily in the 2000 and 2004 elections. They drew on research in political psychology, political communication, voting behavior and candidate positions and used diverse data sources and methodological approaches.
The award honors the work of Robert E. Lane, the Eugene Meyer Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Yale University. Lane is a Fellow of the British Academy, a past president of the American Political Science Association and a past president of the International Society of Political Psychology.
Alumni:
Members of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce’s 2009-2010 Leadership Class XXIII were announced August 12th. This year’s class includes alumni Sarah Terry, Fayetteville Public Library and Kevin Rose, Sam M. Walton College of Business, both recent MPA graduates.
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