UC Santa Barbara experts on presidential politics

POLITICS AND THE MEDIA
Martin Johnson, assistant professor of political science, is an expert on perceptions of media bias can enlighten reports that touch on the recent admissions by CBS News that the documents it used in a news story about President George Bush's National Guard service could not be verified. Johnson studies how assumptions of bias in the news media impact the way people vote. Johnson received his bachelor's degree in journalism before earning advanced degrees in political science. (951) 827-4612 martin.johnson@ucr.edu

Charles Whitney, professor and associate chair in creative writing and professor of sociology. The political importance of this debate lies elsewhere, if experience with other vice-presidential debates is any guide--research on earlier VP debates show that few voters make decisions based on their outcome,” according to Sociology and Creative Writing Prof. Charles Whitney. He can discuss opinion polls, public opinion about the news media and the impact of televised debates on voters. Whitney, a public opinion researcher, is a former journalist who now studies journalists. Whitney was senior researcher on a University of Texas research contract, 1999-2001, administered through the U.S. Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency on communications responses to biological terrorist attacks. (951) 827-6076 chuck.whitney@ucr.edu

POLITICAL SPOUSES
Catherine Allgor, associate professor of history. Some say Laura Bush’s reserved style is a return to the traditional model of an American First Lady. But Prof. Allgor notes in her groundbreaking 2000 book, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington City Help Build a City and a Government, America’s first First Ladies were engaged politicians who often helped shape the direction of domestic and foreign policy for husbands such as James Madison and John Quincy Adams through lobbying at social events such as dinners, dances, and what would today be called cocktail parties.After a career in the theatre, Catherine Allgor received her Ph.D. in 1998 with distinction from Yale University, where she also won the Yale Teaching Award. Her dissertation on women and politics turned into her book, Parlor Politics. Professor Allgor has also written on politics, women, and religion for national publications, and her newest project is a political biography of Dolley Madison. (951) 827-1972 catherine.allgor@ucr.edu

ROLE OF BIG GOVERNMENT
Max Neiman, professor of political science. The era of big government is, apparently, not over. In fact, big government will be asked to address many of the changes recommended by the 9-11 Commission, such as retooling Intelligence, tightening America’s borders, and developing a global diplomatic and public relations strategy to contest radical Islamist ideology. Neiman’s 2000 book, Defending Government: Why Big Government Works, documents the public's declining confidence in the system, and lays out the dangers of too much cynicism in the political process. (951) 827-4693 max.neiman@ucr.edu

THIRD PARTIES AND VOTER BEHAVIOR
Shaun Bowler, professor of political science, can comment on the undecided voter phenomenon as he studies voter behavior. He also studies the effect of third party candidates on elections, including how voters sometimes make a “strategic” vote for a third-party candidate in the primary even if they will vote for a major party candidate in the general election. The co-author of Demanding Choices: Opinions and Voting in Direct Democracy, Bowler has studied elections all over the world. (951) 827-5595 shaun.bowler@ucr.edu