Skocpol

At the federal and state level, Republicans have pushed policies unpopular with many – and sometimes opposed legislation favored by prominent business groups.

To explain why, Cornell’s A.D. White Professor-at-Large, Theda Skocpol, will present early results from a collaborative study of “The Shifting U.S. Political Terrain” in a public lecture Tuesday, April 12, from 4:30-5:30 pm, in Lewis Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. “The Koch Effect: The Impact of a Cadre-Let Network on American Politics and Public Policy” will highlight resource shifts on the U.S. right and the growing influence of the Koch network, a coordinated set of extremely wealthy donors, lobbying groups and constituency organizations that now rivals America’s political parties. The talk is free and open to the public.

“Theda Skocpol is one of the most brilliant and prolific social scientists of our time. Her talk will address topics of crucial importance in this election season,” says Suzanne Mettler, professor of government in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology and American Politics at Harvard University and is director of the Scholars Strategy Network, which she co-founded in 2009. She is considered one of the most prolific, widely respected, highly influential scholars in social sciences today, who makes key contributions to the study of comparative American politics, particularly health care, civic engagement and inequality.

She is the author of 12 books including “Boomerang: Clinton’s Health Security Effort and the Turn Against Government in U.S. Politics”; “Diminished Democracy: From Membership to Management in American Civic Life”; “What a Mighty Power We Can Be: African American Fraternal Groups and The Struggle for Racial Equality”, co-authored with Ariane Liazos and Marshall Ganz; and “The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism,” co-authored with Vanessa Williamson. Skocpol is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Slate and Democracy.

Skocpol is the recipient honors including the Johan Skytte Prize for Political Science and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She has been elected to The Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994), the American Philosophical Society (2006) and the National Academy of Sciences (2008). She has also served as president of the American Political Science Association and the Social Science History Association.

Skocpol’s talk is cosponsored by the Department of Government and the Center for the Study of Inequality.

Linda B. Glaser is a staff writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.