Paul Collins, Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science is quoted about possible efforts by Republicans to block the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. “Republican senators can try to delay the process of confirming Judge Jackson through procedural maneuvers, but ultimately they cannot block Judge Jackson's confirmation as long as Senate Democrats stay united,” Collins says. (Newsweek, 3/21/22)

Alex Theodoridis, Associate Professor of Political Science is quoted in a New York Times Op-Ed analyzing the prospects for President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in the 2022 midterm elections. He is pessimistic about Democratic prospects but acknowledges some positive signs for Biden and Democrats since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Theodoridis says that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine “is an awkward one for GOP elites and voters. They have spent the last few years downplaying the nefariousness of Putin’s regime and portraying Ukraine as a hopelessly corrupt hotbed of profiteering for the Biden family…UMass Poll data from 2020 and 2021 show that Republicans, on average, rate Democrats, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and even people who vote for Democrats, as greater threats to America than Vladimir Putin and Russia. In the weeks before the invasion, Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Donald Trump, among others, peddled takes flattering to Putin. This stance has grown uncomfortable as Russia and Putin have clearly played the role of unprovoked aggressor and Ukrainians and Zelensky emerge as both sympathetic and heroic.” All that being said, Theodoridis does not view recent events as game changers for the Democratic Party and predicts that the midterm elections will likely follow the historical pattern of midterm loss for the president's party. (New York Times, 3/9/22).

Paul Collins, Professor of Political Science and Legal Studies, is quoted in an article examining Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ use of a firm run by Leonard Leo, former head of the Federalist Society, to promote his new book and documentary film project focused on the jurist’s life. “The continued exposure of real or potential conflicts of interest could be problematic for the court, especially when we see ties like this between a justice and the Federalist Society, which plays such a large role in the legal world,” Collins said. (The Daily Beast, Raw Story, 3/8/22)

UMass Amherst presented “War in Ukraine: Placing the Conflict in Context,” a public online discussion between various members of the university faculty, on March 3. Audrey Altstadt, history, Ina Ganguli, economics, Julie Hemment, anthropology, Lauren McCarthy, political science and legal studies and Paul Musgrave, political science, discussed how the conflict came to be and where it might lead during the 90-minute conversation. The event was moderated by R. Karl Rethemeyer, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. (Gazette, News Office release)