President Donald Trump

President-elect Joe Biden removes his face mask to speak at The Queen theater on Nov. 5, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. AP Photo by Carolyn Kaster

Will Biden’s proposed mask mandate actually force people to wear facial coverings?

Probably not, because any mandate he tried to impose would likely face court challenges. But there are other ways he can use the power of the presidency to try to get more people on board, including a direct appeal to our conscience, professors Wendy Parmet and Patricia Illingworth say.

by Peter Ramjug November 19, 2020

President-elect Joe Biden speaks Monday, Nov. 9, 2020, at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

Biden's challenge will be to surround himself with 'excellent' people to manage the coronavirus

In a freewheeling political analysis of the 2020 election, Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president in 1988, said he is confident in Joe Biden’s ability to manage a surge in pandemic infections and hospitalizations because of the president-elect’s management style of surrounding himself with “excellent people who know what they’re doing.”

by Peter Ramjug November 12, 2020

A general view of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on October 21, 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. AP Photo by Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA

An economic stimulus measure could still pass this year despite an election upheaval

Once President-elect Joe Biden takes office, little cooperation from a divided Congress is expected on most major legislative issues. The new president can still pull the levers of power to accomplish some of his administration’s priorities, professors Wendy Parmet and David Lazer say.

by Peter Ramjug November 9, 2020

An election worker handles ballots as vote counting in the general election continues at State Farm Arena on Nov. 4, 2020, in Atlanta. AP Photo by Brynn Anderson

Will Trump complete any of his ‘Hail Mary’ election lawsuits?

With Joe Biden on the verge of claiming the presidency, legal efforts by President Donald Trump to turn the election are equivalent to last-ditch plays at the end of a football game, according to Dan Urman, who teaches Constitutional law and the modern U.S. Supreme Court at Northeastern. “But sometimes Hail Mary passes get caught,” adds Urman.

by Ian Thomsen November 5, 2020

How did the polls get it so wrong...again?

Trump out-performed polls in nine states by a median of six points, says Nick Beauchamp, assistant professor of political science. “That’s a shockingly large error,” he says. There are several theories why. But either way, it doesn’t portend well for the future of polling, he warns.

by Peter Ramjug November 4, 2020

How do news outlets decide to call states for Biden or Trump?

It comes down to strategy and technique, says journalism professor Dan Kennedy. “Each news organization came to its decision while trying to be as responsible as possible,” he says.

by Molly Callahan November 4, 2020

Vice President Mike Pence listens as Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during the vice presidential debate Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020, at Kingsbury Hall on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Pool via AP

Pence and Harris’s low-key debate probably won’t change many voters' minds. Here's why.

The debate probably didn’t move the needle in terms of attracting undecideds, Northeastern professors observe. But with a Supreme Court nomination hearing on the way, their discussion set the stage for a looming political conflict

by Peter Ramjug October 8, 2020

Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

Will the vice presidential debate tell us more than Trump and Biden did?

What if we could look back on political debates and extract the information we needed to make informed decisions on issues and candidates? A visualization tool created by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Northeastern may help us do just that.

by Khalida Sarwari October 6, 2020

President Donald Trump gives thumbs up on the Blue Room Balcony upon returning to the White House Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, in Washington, after leaving Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md. Trump announced he tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 2. AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Does the public have a right to know the state of the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis?

Yes, says Wendy Parmet, university distinguished professor of law at Northeastern and director of the Center for Health Policy and Law. Especially when other people’s health is involved. “Just because he might recover doesn’t mean everyone is going to recover,” Parmet says. “Telling people not to worry about the pandemic is dangerous.”

by Emily Arntsen October 6, 2020

Left, Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a union training center in Hermantown, Minn. AP Photo by Carolyn Kaster. Right, U.S. President Donald Trump addresses supporters at a Great American Comeback campaign rally at Cecil Airport. AP Photo by Paul Hennessy / Sipa

Trump, Biden likely to focus on energizing core supporters in first presidential debate

The move away from showering swing voters with attention has a lot to do with technology that allows campaigns to micro-target supporters down to where they live, says Costas Panagopoulos, chair of Northeastern’s Department of Political Science, whose new book connects election data to insights gained from behavioral social science.

by Peter Ramjug September 28, 2020