Political Science Department Newsletter

News from the Political Science Department at UMass Dartmouth

Volume 2, Number 1, March 2015

Public Opinion Project at UMD

Last semester, the students in Professor Doug Roscoe's "Seminar on Public Opinion" course got a hands-on experience in survey res earch. They designed, administered, analyzed and interpreted a public opinion survey covering politics, media usage, and attitudes about government. And using the data from 1500 respondents, the students wrote research papers, which included topics related to questioning wording effects, the links between civic and political engagement, the connections between religiosity and patriotism, and the political polarization of Americans.

Professor Roscoe, the mastermind behind the project, believes it is beneficial for students. "The survey project is great for the students, because it provides a hands-on way for them to learn all the issues related to survey design, question wording and survey implementation," said Roscoe. "At the same time, they are gathering new data on their own research questions, so their papers are able to say something new about these topics."

Even his students were excited about the survey project. Matt Montano, one of Roscoe's students, used the data to see if political polarization exists on small scales such as this university. And another student, Max Cohn, focused on the effect TV has on the political trust of citizens. But what really surprised Cohn was the fun factor. "You would never expect making a survey to be fun or interesting, but it was," said Cohn. "It's an excellent example of how teamwork and the right amount of guidance can lead to great results."

How to Rig an Election 101

Professor Kevin Pallister wanted to do something different. He wanted to teach a course on American election law from a perspective of comparative politics. And he hoped to look at how politicians try to craft election rules to their advantage. So at the urging of department chair Shannon Jenkins, he developed a new course - How to Rig an Election. "This course allows me to draw on my current research in preparing class material," Pallister said. "It's nice to work on a research article one day and then get to discuss the same themes with students the next day in class."

Pallister designed the course to cover the blatant ways in which elections are stolen, such as vote counts being altered and opposition candidates being banned. But he also covers all the legal ways in which political actors try to influence elections. The class discusses voting procedures that make voting easy or difficult for specific groups, how election districts are drawn, how candidates can raise and spend campaign money, and how electoral systems translate votes into seats in government.

So are students are lining up to learn how to steal elections? According to Pallister, most students have more of an academic interest in the subject than a practical one. "I hope my students will be able to understand how the American electoral system works, and how other countries conduct their elections," Pallister said. "And as a result, my students will be better prepared to advocate for improvements in the democratic quality of our elections."

Two Internships Are

Better Than One

Most students secure only one internship, but Meaghan Koudelka isn't like most students. Instead of one internship, she took on two. "My political science courses have given me the knowledge and skills I need for these internships," said Koudelka. "I've learned a lot about NGOs, the political dynamics in which things have to get done, writing and public speaking skills, and the statistical and data analysis skills you need to solve problems."

And because Koudelka wants to work in the International Development field after graduation, she thought that interning with the Salvation Army, a non-profit organization, would be a great resume-builder. "I want to work ultimately within International Development, particularly within areas of poverty, emergency disaster services, and so on," Koudelka said. "So I thought that the Salvation Army would be a good start to this plan because they deal with these topics at a state level." As an intern, she gained extensive knowledge in the maintenance of a non-profit organization. And she participated in many aspects of support services, including emergency/disaster relief, food pantry operations, and holiday distributions.

But Meaghan wanted more experience, so she landed another internship with South Coast Energy Challenge. This organization has the goal of reducing fossil fuel-based energy in SouthCoast Massachusetts. And even though the internship is just beginning, Koudelka is hopeful she will earn valuable experience, and prove that two internships are better than one.