The Outlook for the 2020 Elections: A Virtual Forum with UofSC Political Science Professors

South Carolina Humanities and the University of South Carolina are pleased to present “The Outlook for the 2020 Elections,” one of eleven virtual programs in the South Carolina Humanities Electoral Initiative. On Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 7:00 PM, four political science professors from the University of South Carolina will participate in a live, virtual forum. Dr. Kirk Randazzo, Dr. Robert Oldendick, Dr. Todd Shaw, and Dr. Jessica Schoenherr will explore issues shaping the outcome of the Presidential and Congressional elections, including the Supreme Court nomination, the coronavirus pandemic, health care, the economy, and “law and order.” Each speaker will give a 10-minute presentation and will take questions. The program will be recorded and made available to view on-demand after the live event. Click here to join the event on October 27 at 7:00 PM. If you view the program, please click here to take our 3-question survey.

The South Carolina Humanities Electoral Initiative is part of a national initiative entitled “Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation” administered by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Through “Why It Matters,” 43 humanities councils will explore the history, importance, and impact of the American electoral process.

Dr. Kirk Randazzo is Chair of the Political Science Department. Professor Randazzo’s research and teaching interests span the fields of American Politics, Comparative Politics, and Methodology – with a particular focus on law and judicial politics. His work focuses on legal constraints to judicial decision making, strategic behavior among judges, and aspects of judicial independence within fledgling democracies. 

Dr. Robert Oldendick has served as principal investigator or project manager on more than two hundred projects. He is the author of articles on research methodology, including procedures for sample selection in telephone surveys, methods of respondent selection within households, and the effects of question wording and format on responses to survey questions.

Dr. Todd Shaw has appointments in both UofSC’s Department of Political Science and the African American Studies Program. He currently is the Associate Director of African American Studies. He researches and teaches broadly in the areas of African American politics, urban politics and public policy, as well as citizen activism and social movements.

Dr. Jessica Schoenherr studies the United States Supreme Court, with a focus on both attorney strategy and Supreme Court confirmation hearings. With Elizabeth A. Lane and Miles T. Armaly in 2020, she published, “The Electoral Purpose of Senatorial Grandstanding During Supreme Court Confirmation Hearings” in Journal of Law and Courts.

The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.

Learn more about the topic:

On election forecasting: 

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/elections/

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/

On election modeling: 

http://primarymodel.com/

On candidate fundraising: 

www.fec.gov 

Epstein, Gibson, and Nelson on Court Packing: 

http://epstein.wustl.edu/research/CourtReformSurvey.pdf

The Economist on ideological location of the 2019 Court and Amy Coney Barrett: 

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/09/21/the-supreme-court-may-be-about-to-take-a-hard-right-turn

On the fundraising bonanza: 

https://www.axios.com/actblue-record-breaking-30-million-ginsburg-death-9755f539-6c6a-4b81-8094-a219c4da9a63.html