Contact:
Dinah Winnick
Communications Manager: Social Sciences
(410) 455-8117
dwinnick@umbc.edu
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As we approach the November election, Maryland residents are turning to media to learn about the candidates’ perspectives on key public issues. UMBC researchers are available to provide insight into the election and a range of related topics, such as the voting process, campaigns, lobbying, the state budget, and gauging public opinion.

Donald F. Norris, professor and chair of the Department of Public Policy and director of the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (MIPAR), is a specialist in urban politics, public management and e-government. Local, regional and national news media regularly contact him to provide commentary and analysis on Maryland government and politics; he has contributed to USA Today, The Washington Post, AP, local NBC and CBS news and MSNBC.com.

Thomas F. Schaller, associate professor in the Department of Political Science, is an expert on the American presidency, US Congress, interest groups and lobbying, and campaigns and elections. He is the author of the acclaimed "Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South" and is a political columnist for The Baltimore Sun. He has written commentaries on federal and state electoral issues for The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, Boston Globe, American Prospect, Politico, Salon, The New Republic and others, and has appeared on ABC News, The Colbert Report, MSNBC, NPR, PBS and C-SPAN’s Washington Journal.

Laura Hussey, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science, can speak to public opinion on policy issues, US public policy on social welfare and moral/cultural issues, and the roles and functioning of government agencies.

Nicholas F. Miller, professor in the Department of Political Science and NSF-funded scholar, specializes in understanding voting processes as forms of collective decision-making. He has published research on logrolling, majority voting, power, social choice, information pooling, agenda control and spatial-voting models. His current research focuses on the properties of the US Electoral College as a vote-counting mechanism.

Roy T. Meyers, professor in the Department of Political Science and former Congressional Budget Office analyst, focuses on the reform of state and federal budgetary processes, priority-setting, attempts to limit earmarks and the roles of elected officials (such as the governor’s power). He recently produced the report “Budget Questions for the Maryland Election and Beyond” and wrote for The Baltimore Sun on how Maryland can avoid cuts by educating the public about vital services.