Lecture: Midterm Elections

Panel Discussion: Who will control Congress?

4:30 p.m. - Registtration
5:00 p.m. - Presentation
6:00 p.m. - Optional: Early Bird Dinner

A Faculty Club panel of Berkeley’s leading political analysts will review the mid-term congressional elections and discuss the potential for a major political shift that could leave both houses of Congress in the hands of the Republican Party. The panelist will include:

Laura Stoker -Professor of Political Science. Professor Stoker's research focuses on the development and change of political beliefs, attitudes, and behavior.  Specific topics include the moral, group, and self-interested basis of citizens' opinions on public policies; the sources of short- and long-run change in citizens' evaluations of political candidates and public policies; and political influence within families. Her publications include Political Trust and Trustworthiness, Interests and Ethics in Politics, Judging Presidential Character: The Demise of Gary Hart," and "Understanding Whites' Resistance to Affirmative Action: The Role of Principled Commitments and Racial Prejudice," She is currently co-directing a project on the persistence of political beliefs and attitudes over the life-cycle and their transmission across generations. More information is available at Professor Stoker's Berkeley webpage.

Eric Schickler - Chair of the Department of Political Science. Professor Schickler is the author of Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress and Partisan Hearts and Minds. Most recently, he is co-author of Filibuster: Obstruction and Lawmaking in the U.S. Senate. He has authored or co-authored articles in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, Polity, Public Opinion Quarterly, and Social Science History. His research and teaching interests are in the areas of American politics, the U.S. Congress, American political development, and public opinion.More information about this research can be found at Professor Schickler's Berkeley webpage.

Gabriel Lenz - Associate Professor of Political Science. Professor Lenz draws on insights from social psychology and economics to pursue his research and teaching interests in the areas of elections, public opinion, and political psychology voters’ ability to control their elected officials and hold politicians accountable. More information about this research can be found at Professor Lenz's Berkeley webpage.