Justin Buchler, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University

Joseph White, Ph.D. – Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy, Chair-Department of Poltical Science, and Director of the Center for Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University

Friday January 25, 2007
12:30-1:30 p.m.
Crawford Hall – Room 9
Inamori Center
Case Western Reserve University

Yes, it’s bad to think of presidential politics as a horse race, instead of focusing on the policy stakes, but boy, this year’s horse race is interesting.  The Democrats seem to be entering a two-candidate stretch run.  The Republican front-runners are bunched in a pack and it’s hard to believe any of them can win – though, this week, the political equivalent of Seabiscuit (old, written off) seems to have the edge.

Who’s voting for Barack and Hillary, and why?  What might happen in South Carolina, Florida, and then on Tsunami Tuesday?  Could Rudy Giuliani’s win by losing strategy possibly work?  Can John McCain win the GOP nomination even though none of the party’s core constituencies like him?  Can Huckabee expand beyond his base?  Is money enough for Mitt Romney?  And, if nobody has a majority going into the GOP convention, what happens then?  Justin Buchler specializes in parties, elections, and public opinion, so can speak from expertise.  Joe White just has a record of good predictions.  Come and share your own guesses!

The Friday Lunch is a brown-bag event open to all.  Cookies and some beverages are provided.

The remainder of this e-mail reports what we know about the schedule for the rest of the semester. We will be sending out announcements each week. If you would prefer not to receive the announcements, please inform Dr. Andrew Lucker, Associate Director of the Center for Policy Studies, by e-mail (andrew.lucker@case.edu).

About Our Guest

Dr. Buchler came to Case in the Fall of 2005, after teaching for a year at Oberlin and receiving his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley. He’s a bit of a contrary: a person who enjoys deflating conventional wisdom. His major line of work at present considers the seemingly obvious idea that elections have to be competitive for our government to be representative. As he points out, if every representative is elected by a 51% to 49% margin, 49% of the people will feel unrepresented. If all the districts are gerrymandered so their representatives win 80% to 20%, then only 20% of the voters will be disappointed. Why is the second situation worse?

He has also published research on campaign finance and the mechanisms of voting – such as the hanging chads and touchscreens that made the elections in 2000, 2004, and 2006 so controversial. A lot of his work utilizes mathematics to understand the dynamics of political situations – he’s definitely the member of our faculty to see if you like math and want to see how it can be applied to politics. But his theoretical interests are joined to a deep interest in practical politics: in how people manipulate other people to get their way in political systems. “Check your ideology at the door” is Dr. Buchler’s instruction in all his courses. His focus is on how politics works, and that’s not a right-wing or left-wing topic. All views should be respected, and students have difficulty figuring out his own.

Professor White came to Case in 2000 as Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for Policy Studies, and became Department Chair in 2003. He came to Cleveland from New Orleans, where he was Associate Professor of Health Systems Management in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. Previously he was a Research Associate and then Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.. He received his A.B. from the University of Chicago and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. White’s research interests and publications have focused on federal budgeting policy and politics, Congress, health care finance in the United States and other countries, Social Security and Medicare. His most recent book is False Alarm: Why the Greatest Threat to Social Security and Medicare is the Campaign to Save Them (Johns Hopkins University Press 2001; Paperback with new postscript, 2003). He is also the author of Competing Solutions: American Health Care Proposals and International Experience (Brookings, 1995) and, with Aaron Wildavsky, of The Deficit and the Public Interest: The Search for Responsible Budgeting in the 1980s (University of California Press and The Russell Sage Foundation, 1989; Paperback with postscript 1991). His most recent publications are “Making Connections to the Appropriations Process” in Paul Herrnson et al. eds., The Interest Group Connection 2nd ed (CQ Press, forthcoming); “How is Aging a Health Policy Problem?” in Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law and Ethics 4:1 (Winter, 2004); and “Three Meanings of Capacity; Or, Why the Federal Government Is Most Likely to Lead on Insurance Access Issues” in Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 28:2-3 (April-June, 2003).

His courses include The American Political System,; The Public Policy Process; Bureacratic Politics in the U.S.; Legislative Politics; Comparative Public Policy; Interest Groups in the Policy Process; and Politics, Policy and Tobacco. In addition, as Director of the Center for Policy Studies Dr. White organizes public programming on issues ranging from “War and Peace between the United States and Iraq” to the teaching of “Intelligent Design” theory in Ohio public schools, and from NASA’s Mission to Mars to national missile defense.

Recent Friday Lunch Guest Featured in the New York Times Magazine

Jane Platten, Director of the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, was featured in the New York Times Magazine recently in an article entitled, “Can You Count on Voting Machines?”

Friday Lunch and Other Public Affairs Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

February 1: .  Dr. Greg Eastwood, Director of the Inamori International Center for Ethics and Excellence, hosts a discussion on College Sports and Ethics, featuring David L. Diles EdD, Director of Athletics and Chair, Department of Physical Education; John J. Grabowski Ph.D., Krieger-Muller Associate Professor in Applied History and Director of Research, Western Reserve Historical Society; and Joseph M. Prahl Ph.D., Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.

February 8: Bo Carlsson, Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics at Case Western Reserve University, will discuss, “Can Cleveland Be a High Tech Leader?”

February 15: Paul Gerhart, Professor of Marketing and Policy Studies at Case Western Reserve University, will talk about, “Labor Agreements in the Auto Industry–and Elsewhere.”

February 22: Chris Cullis, Professor of Biology at Case Western Reserve University, will discuss, “Lost Crops of Africa – Involving Undergraduates in their Rediscovery.”

February 29: Robin Dubin, Associate Proferssor of Economics at Case Western Reserve University, will discuss, “The Real Estate Meltdown.”

March 7: Peter J. Whitehouse MD PhD. Professor of Neurology and Cognitive Science. “The Myth of Alzheimers.”

The Friday Lunch discussions are held on the lower (ground) level of
Crawford Hall.  Visitors with mobility issues may find it easiest to take advantage of special arrangements we have made.  On most Fridays, a few parking spaces in the V.I.P. lot in between Crawford Hall and Amasa Stone Chapel are held for participants in the lunch discussion.

Visitors then can avoid walking up the hill to the first floor of Crawford by entering the building on the ground level, through the garage area under the building.  The further door on the left in that garage will be left unlocked during the period before the Friday lunch.  On occasion, parking will be unavailable because of other university events.

For more information about these and other Center for Policy Studies programs, please see http://policy.case.edu.