Smith has worked on Capitol Hill in several capacities and has served as a senior fellow at the Brooking Institution and is the former director of WashU’s Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy. He has also authored or co-authored six books on congressional politics and recently a book on the formation of the Russian State Duma. He is working on books on party leadership in the U.S. Senate and the nature of party effects on congressional voting. Smith also directs The American Panel Survey (TAPS), a national political opinion poll that goes out each month to the same group of about 2000 citizens.
A recent survey conducted by the Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis found that a majority of voters — 95% of Democrats and 54% of Republicans — recognize evidence for climate change. But partisans differ in how serious they view the issue, what they believe is causing global warming and their support for policies to address the problem.
Recently, Washington University in St. Louis political experts Steven Smith, Betsy Sinclair and Andrew Reeves sat down to discuss the reliability of the 2020 polls, as well as election integrity and voter confidence in the election outcome.
Three political science experts at Washington University in St. Louis discuss the battle for control of the U.S. Senate and House. This roundtable discussion is the first of a two-part 2020 election series aimed to help listeners better understand the news, polls and issues in this year’s election.
Daniel Epps, associate professor in the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, and Steven Smith, Kate M. Gregg Distinguished Professor of Social Science, weigh in on who has the most to lose before the election if a nomination is completed, how this situation differs from the Senate-stalled Merrick Garland nomination in 2016 and why the nomination system needs to change.
Who leads on election night, which may change as mail-in and challenged ballots are counted after Election Day, is surely to influence who considers the vote count to be accurate. This could get ugly. Just how ugly will be determined by the quality of election administration and the rhetoric of political leaders.
