Political Scientists' statement of concern about Donald Trump

November 7, 2016 

Political scientists seek to understand politics, not engage in politics. Yet our profession has always had strong normative commitments at its foundation: a conviction that peace is preferable to war, freedom to tyranny, justice to injustice, equality to inequality, democracy to authoritarianism. As John Adams wrote in 1780, in the Massachusetts Constitution, the fundamental premise of American self-government is that it “be a government of laws, and not of men.”

It is in this spirit that we are voicing our collective concern about Donald Trump. Throughout the course of the U.S. presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly questioned and attacked the core institutions and norms that make democracy work. Such attacks by a major presidential candidate are unprecedented in American history but they are entirely familiar to those of us who study other parts of the world. Specifically, we are deeply concerned about the prospect of a Trump presidency for the following reasons:

  1. He has cast doubt on the validity of the election process, without any supporting evidence.

  2. He has stated that he may reject the outcome of a free election if he does not win.

  3. He has encouraged supporters to engage in voter suppression and intimidation.

  4. He has threatened to jail the leader of the opposition party.

  5. He has questioned the independence of the judiciary and the impartiality of judges based on their race, ethnicity, religion, and parentage.

  6. He has impugned the loyalty of citizens and other persons in the United States on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, and country of birth.

  7. He has endangered freedom of the press by intimidating individual journalists, banning major news organizations from his rallies, and promising to change libel laws.

  8. He has called for the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

  9. He has threatened to destroy the strategic basis of NATO, the most important security alliance of the last seventy years, by questioning the commitment of the United States to regard an attack on any member state as an attack on all.

For all these reasons and despite our own differences on matters of politics and partisanship, we stand united in the conviction that a Trump presidency would pose a grave threat to American democracy and to other democratic governments around the world. We call on voters to consider this threat when they cast their votes.

We sign this statement as individual scholars of political science. Institutions are listed for identification purposes only; they are not in any way signatories to this document. 

Signatures：

 

Scott F. Abramson, University of Rochester

Bruce Ackerman, Yale University

Claire Adida, UCSD

Bethany Albertson, University of Texas, Austin

Isabella Alcañiz, University of Maryland

John Aldrich*, Duke University

David Andersen, Iowa State University

Ellen Andersen, University of Vermont

David Andersen-Rodgers, California State University, Sacramento

Jeffrey Anderson, Georgetown University

Sara Angevine, Whittier College

Nick Anguelov, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth

Peri E. Arnold, University of Notre Dame

Shelly Arsneault, California State University, Fullerton

Amy L. Atchison, Valparaiso University

Michael Ault, California State University, Bakersfield

Robert Axelrod*, University of Michigan

Jonathan Bach, The New School

David Banks, American University

Katherine Banks, Bellevue College

Melissa Bass, University of Mississippi

Amrita Basu, Amherst College

Regina Bateson, MIT

Arthur Beckman, George Washington University

Lisa Garcia Bedolla, University of California, Berkeley

Mark Beissinger, Princeton University

Sara C. Benesh, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Seyla Benhabib, Yale University

Nancy Bermeo, Princeton University

Angelica Bernal, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Michael Bernhard, University of Florida

Rebecca Best, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Rikhil Bhavnani, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Benjamin G. Bishin, UC Riverside

Charles H. Blake, James Madison University

Erik Bleich, Middlebury College

Anjali Thomas Bohlken, Georgia Tech

Fabian Borges, California State University, San Bernardino

Michael J. Bosia, Saint Michael's College

Darren Botello-Samson, Pittsburg State University

Nicholas Boushee, San Diego City College

Daniel Braaten, Texas Lutheran University

Lorna Bracewell, University of Nebraska-Kearney

Jessica Maves Braithwaite, University of Arizona

Christine Thurlow Brenner, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Jason Brozek, Lawrence University

Jeremy Buchman, Long Island University

Kristin Bumiller, Amherst College

Kirill Bumin, University of North Carolina, Pembroke

Valerie Bunce, Cornell University

Melissa Butler, Wabash College

David R. Cameron, Yale University

Peter F. Cannavò, Hamilton College

John Carey, Dartmouth College

Ivy A.M. Cargile, CSU Bakersfield

Neil Carlson, Calvin College

David B. Carter, Princeton University

Marjorie Castle, University of Utah

James Chalmers, Wayne State University

Stephen J. Chapman, Monmouth University

Sarah Chartock, The College of New Jersey

Joshua Cherniss, Georgetown University

Michael Chwe, UCLA

Andrew Civettini, Knox College

Tom Clark, Emory University

William Roberts Clark, Texas A&M University

K. Chad Clay, University of Georgia

Ruth Collier, University of California, Berkeley

David Collier, University of California, Berkeley

Dave Colnic, California State University, Stanislaus

Lauren Copeland, Baldwin Wallace University

Javier Corrales, Amherst College

Kerry Crawford, James Madison University

Beverly Crawford, University of California, Berkeley

Keith Darden, American University

Christina Davis, Princeton University

Erica De Bruin, Hamilton College

Jacqueline DeMeritt, University of North Texas

Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, Stanford University

Jeff Dillard, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Paul Djupe, Denison University

Daniel Drezner, Tufts University

Thomas L. Dumm, Amherst College

Thad Dunning, University of California, Berkeley

Munroe Eagles, University at Buffalo-SUNY

Daniel J. Epstein, Texas Tech University

Matthew Evangelista, Cornell University

Heather Evans, Sam Houston State University

William Eveland, Ohio State University

Christopher Faricy, Syracuse University, Maxwell School

David Faris, Roosevelt University

Henry Farrell, George Washington University

Christopher M. Federico, University of Minnesota

Harvey Feigenbaum, George Washington University

Nichole Fifer, Washington & Jefferson College

Terry Filicko, Clark State Community College

Michael Findley, University of Texas, Austin

Michael P Fix, Georgia State University

Andrew R. Flores, Mills College

Michael Flynn, Kansas State University

David Fortunato, Texas A&M University

Jason Frank, Cornell University

Jill Frank, Cornell University

Amy Freedman, LIU and Columbia

Timothy Frye, Columbia University

Christopher J. Galdieri, Saint Anselm College

Mary Gallagher, University of Michigan

Gerald Gamm, University of Rochester

Scott Gehlbach, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Shamira Gelbman, Wabash College

John Gershman, New York University

Sambuddha Ghatak, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Martin Gilens, Princeton University

Rebecca Gill, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Hein Goemans, University of Rochester

Charles W. Gossett, California State University, Sacramento

Paul Gowder, University of Iowa

Guy Grossman, University of Pennsylvania

Anna Grzymala-Busse, Stanford University

Ingrid Haas, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

David Hadley, Wabash College

Claire Haeg, College of St Benedict and St John's University

Annika Hagley, Roger Williams University

Peter Hall, Harvard University

Matthew E.K. Hall, University of Notre Dame

Michael T. Heaney, University of Michigan

Erin Heidt-Forsythe, Pennsylvania State University

Charles J. Helm, Western Illinois University

Gretchen Helmke, University of Rochester

Rodney E. Hero*, University of California, Berkeley

Mary Herring, Wayne State University

Matthew V. Hibbing, University of California, Merced

Timothy G. Hill, Doane University

Matthew Dean Hindman, University of Tulsa

Matthew Hitt, Colorado State University

Jennifer Hochschild*, Harvard University

Matthew Holden, Jr.*, University of Illinois at Springfield

Alisha Holland, Princeton University

Gary E. Hollibaugh, Jr., University of Notre Dame

Mirya R Holman, Tulane University

Lisa M. Holmes, University of Vermont

Najib Hourani, Michigan State University

Lise Howard, Georgetown University

Marc Howard, Georgetown University

Philip J. Howe, Adrian College

Jacqueline Ignatov, Appalachian State University

G. John Ikenberry, Princeton University

Ronald F. Inglehart, University of Michigan

Wade Jacoby, Brigham Young University

Amaney Jamal, Princeton University

Matthew Jarvis, California State University, Fullerton

Bridget M. Jeffery, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

Robert Jervis*, Columbia University

Nadia Jilani-Hyler, Augusta University

Laurie Johnson, Kansas State University

Brad Jones, UC Davis

Michael Jones-Correa, University of Pennsylvania

Nathan P. Kalmoe, Louisiana State University

Christopher F. Karpowitz, Brigham Young University

Mary Fainsod Katzenstein, Cornell University

Peter J. Katzenstein*, Cornell University

Robert Kaufman, Rutgers University

Bernd Kaussler, James Madison University

Robert O. Keohane*, Princeton University

David Kershaw, Slippery Rock University

Mark Kesselman, Columbia University

Kouslaa Kessler-Mata, University of San Francisco

Christina Kiel, Tulane University

Shanna Kirschner, Allegheny College

Jonathan Kirshner, Cornell University

Brian E. Klunk, University of the Pacific

Kay Knickrehm, James Madison University

Jeanine Kraybill, California State University, Bakersfield

Amie Kreppel, University of Florida

Gabrielle Kruks-Wisner, University of Virginia

Raymond Kuo, Fordham University

Daniel R. Lake, SUNY Plattsburgh

David Lake**, UCSD

Pierre Landry, NYU Shanghai

Ryan LaRochelle, Brandeis University

Adria Lawrence, Yale University

Jeffrey Lax, Columbia University

Jeffrey Lazarus, Georgia State University

Matthew Lebo, Stony Brook University

F.S.J. Ledgister, Clark Atlanta University

Jeffrey A. Lenowitz, Brandeis University

Margaret Levi*, Stanford University

Steven Levitsky, Harvard University

Naomi Levy, Santa Clara University

Evan Lieberman, MIT

Arend Lijphart*, University of California, San Diego

Amy Linch, Pennsylvania State University

Jennifer K. Lobasz, University of Delaware

M. Casey Love, Tulane University

David Lublin, American University

Beatriz Magaloni, Stanford University

Jane Mansbridge*, Harvard University

Lawrence Markowitz, Rowan University

Renee Marlin-Bennett, Johns Hopkins University

Valerie Martinez-Ebers, University of North Texas

Gwyneth McClendon, Harvard University

Kimberly Saks McManaway, University of Michigan-Flint

David Mednicoff, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Bonnie Meguid, University of Rochester

Andrew Mertha, Cornell University

Suzanne Mettler, Cornell University

Jamila Michener, Cornell University

Steven V. Miller, Clemson University

Nathan K. Mitchell, Prairie View A&M University

Heather Silber Mohamed, Clark University

Erika Moreno, Creighton University

Jennifer Morrison, Murray State University

Layna Mosley, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Yascha Mounk, Harvard University

Amanda Murdie, University of Georgia

Bradley Jensen Murg, Seattle Pacific University

Maria Victoria Murillo, Columbia University

Dale Murphy, Georgetown University

JoAnne Myers, Marist College

Monika Nalepa, University of Chicago

Lisa Nelson, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Adam Newmark, Appalachian State University

Daniel Nexon, Georgetown University

Angela Nichols, Florida Atlantic University

Lindsay Nielson, Bucknell University

Richard Niemi, University of Rochester

Pippa Norris, Harvard University

Julie Novkov, University at Albany, SUNY

Ken Nuger, San Jose State University

Jonathan Obert, Amherst College

Thomas Ogorzalek, Northwestern University

Jonathan Olsen, Texas Woman's University

Masahiro Omae, San Diego City College

Stephen Orvis, Hamilton College

Zoe Oxley, Union College

Sarah E. Parkinson, Johns Hopkins University

Josh Pasek, University of Michigan

Thomas Pepinsky, Cornell University

Margaret E. Peters, UCLA

Philip Pettit, Princeton University

Justin Phillips, Columbia University

Dianne Pinderhughes*, University of Notre Dame

Pablo M. Pinto, University of Houston

Costantino Pischedda, University of Miami

John J. Pitney, Jr., Claremont McKenna College

Grigore Pop-Eleches, Princeton University

Daniel Posner, UCLA

Lynda Powell, University of Rochester

G. Bingham Powell*, University of Rochester

Kathleen Powers, University of Georgia

Adam Przeworski, New York University

Robert D. Putnam*, Harvard University

Seth Racusen, Anna Maria College

Kelly Rader, Yale University

Sheen Rajmaira, CSU Channel Islands

Kirk Randazzo, University of South Carolina

Wesley Renfro, St. John Fisher College

Beatriz Rey, Syracuse University

Timothy Rich, Western Kentucky University

Elizabeth Rigby, George Washington University

Meg Rithmire, Harvard Business School

Tyson Roberts, UC Irvine

Kirsten Rodine-Hardy, Northeastern University

John E. Roemer, Yale University

Melvin Rogers, UCLA

Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University

Nancy Rosenblum, Harvard University

Frances Rosenbluth, Yale University

Barry Rundquist, University of Illinois at Chicago

Mark Rupert, Syracuse University

Ryan Rynbrandt, Collin College

Carol Saivetz, MIT

Michael Salamone, Washington State University

David Samuels, University of Minnesota

Richard J. Samuels, MIT

Thania Sanchez, Yale University

Amanda G. Sanford, Louisiana Tech University

Daniel Savage, Northeastern State University

Burcu Savun, University of Pittsburgh

Fred Schaffer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Andrew Schlewitz, Grand Valley State University

Cathy Lisa Schneider, American University

Monica Schneider, Miami University (OH)

Mark Schrad, Villanova University

Sanford Schram, Hunter College

James C. Scott, Yale University

Gary Segura, Stanford University

Vivek Swaroop Sharma, Pomona College

Theda Skocpol*, Harvard University

Dan Slater, University of Chicago

Stanley R. Sloan, Middlebury College

Fred Slocum, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Benjamin Smith, University of Florida

Steven Smith, Yale University

Sarah Wilson Sokhey, University of Colorado, Boulder

Laila Sorurbakhsh, American University

William Spaniel, University of Pittsburgh

David E. Spiro, Columbia University

Allison Stanger, Middlebury College

Paul Staniland, University of Chicago

Susan Stokes, Yale University

Elizabeth Stoycheff, Wayne State University

Jane Lawrence Sumner, University of Minnesota

Pavithra Suryanarayan, Johns Hopkins University

Milan Svolik, Yale University

Jennie Sweet-Cushman, Chatham University

Peter A. Swenson, Yale University

Steven Sylvester, Utah Valley University

Ora Szekely, Clark University

Stacy Taninchev, Gonzaga University

Sidney Tarrow, Cornell University

Kathleen Thelen, MIT

Sean Theriault, University of Texas, Austin

Michael J. Tierney, William & Mary

Vladimir Tismaneanu, University of Maryland

Aili Tripp, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Jessica Trounstine, University of California, Merced

Rory Truex, Princeton University

Joshua A. Tucker, New York University

Anca Turcu, University of Central Florida

Juan Urbano, Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Jose M. Vadi, CSU Pomona

Nicholas Valentino, University of Michigan

Cheryl Van Den Handel, Northeastern State University

Sidney Verba*, Harvard University

Jennifer Nicoll Victor, George Mason University

James Raymond Vreeland, Georgetown University

Nancy Wadsworth, University of Denver

Sophia Jordán Wallace, University of Washington

Carrie Booth Walling, Albion College

Denise Walsh, University of Virginia

Leonard Wantchekon, Princeton University

Artemus Ward, Northern Illinois University

Omar Wasow, Princeton University

David Weaver, Boise State University

Vesla Weaver, Yale University

Aaron Weinschenk, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

Aaron Quinn Weinstein, Salve Regina University

Meredith Weiss, University at Albany, SUNY

Rachel Wellhausen, University of Texas, Austin

Jay Wendland, Daemen College

Karleen West, SUNY Geneseo

Jennifer Widner, Princeton University

Clyde Wilcox, Georgetown University

Christopher Williams, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Bruce Wilson, University of Central Florida

Jason Windett, Saint Louis University

Catherine Wineinger, Rutgers University

Nicholas Winter, University of Virginia

Matthew Winters, University of Illinois

Elisabeth Jean Wood, Yale University

Gerald Wright, Indiana University

Deborah J. Yashar, Princeton University

Miranda Yaver, Yale University

Tina Zappile, Stockton University

J. Nicholas Ziegler, Brown University

Joshua Zingher, Old Dominion University 

* Past President of the American Political Science Association

** Current President of the American Political Science Association  

Source: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7l0lh4nmE3OSkpCWjJJNGVoNXc/view

 

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