It took decades of fighting for women in the United States to win the right to vote. Today, more women than ever are turning out for elections, running for office and influencing public policy at the ballot box.
But the fight isn’t over, says UC Davis historian Lisa Materson, who studies women’s political history. Some women remain disfranchised. And we are seeing efforts across the nation to make voting harder.
Political scientist Edmond Costantini traced his keen interest in politics and current events to a decade he spent as a youth delivering newspapers in Manhattan in New York, where his customers included future President Dwight D. Eisenhower and activist Eugene Debs. Costantini, who died Jan. 10 in Davis at age 89, would later become a sought-after news source himself for his expertise on California elections and politics.
A year ago on Jan. 6, supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol. What is the historical context of the attack and what does it mean for the future of the nation? Four UC Davis historians will discuss the insurrection and its implications for the midterm congressional elections at an online forum on Tuesday, Jan. 11, from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m. PST.
Women’s electoral candidacies skyrocketed nationwide in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, which many saw as good news for democracy. But behavioral scholars have long maintained that women are more risk-averse than men, and thus are not as likely to sustain a prolonged political career — involving election losses as well as wins — the way men candidates traditionally have. A new University of California, Davis, study suggests, however, that nationwide data show women are in politics for the long haul.
A student and two alumni of the UC Davis College of Letters and Science assume new positions as elected public officials this month — science and technology studies major Hipolito Angel Cerros on the city council in the Tulare County community of Lindsay and political science graduates Alex Lee and David Cortese in the California Legislature.
Research by a UC Davis communication professor and colleagues finds that research shows that people who support President Donald Trump have lower trust in societal institutions, when compared with supporters of leading Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden.
With California Sen. Kamala Harris out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, UC Davis communication professor Magdalena Wojcieszak and colleagues investigated who her supporters are likely to vote for.
Our brains are hard-wired to remember insults and attacks — which explains why so many political campaigns go negative. Research by psychology professor Alison Ledgerwood also finds a bright side: You can train your brain to flip the script.
With the political divide growing wider and emotions running hotter, what can we do to help people to better understand each other and work together even when they don’t see eye to eye? Magdalena Wojcieszak, an associate professor of communication at UC Davis, is looking for answers.
With the midterm elections just a few days away, several faculty members provided insights into how messy, self-reflective and fact-free political conversations can get online; ways art can help us understand the magnitude of social media on elections; and how easy it is to hack voter information.
