PoliticalScience

In his latest opinion column in The Baltimore Sun, Political Science Professor Thomas Schaller responds to an op-ed he wrote last month about the Western Maryland Initiative, an effort that calls for the state’s five western-most counties to secede from the state. Schaller suggests that if people in those counties dislike Maryland’s politics, a solution is to move to a neighboring state that better reflects their ideology: Among the blessings of our federal system are the variations across the 50 states. Conservatives usually champion these differences and states’ rights; indeed, they frequently employ the “vote with your feet” metaphor to encourage persons… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, Op-Ed in The Baltimore Sun

Political science professor Roy Meyers was featured in The Wall Street Journal last week in two articles examining the cost of the government shutdown as it enters its second week. In one article, Meyers describes how the cost of the shutdown can be difficult to predict. “How long it will last is now unknown,” he said. “And even if one knew with certainty the length of the shutdown, it would be very difficult to calculate accurately the budgetary cost.” In the second article (subscription required), Meyers shared insight on the cost of the shutdown if back pay isn’t awarded to federal… Continue Reading Roy Meyers, Political Science, in The Wall Street Journal

In an October 1st tweet, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz suggested the current federal government shutdown will result in “$10 billion in costs to the economy per week.” Is that accurate? PolitiFact consulted with UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers to find out. The $10 billion figure Wasserman Schultz quotes is from the White House, which itself acquired the estimate from an August report from Goldman Sachs. To check this figure, PolitiFact went back to Meyers’ analysis of the 1995-96 government shutdown, which was estimated to cost $1.4 billion (mainly in back pay to furloughed workers). However, Meyers shares,… Continue Reading Roy Meyers, Political Science, on PolitiFact

“The federal government has shut down,” reads a new Baltimore Sun op-ed by political science professor Thomas F. Schaller. “And it’s the Republicans’ fault — period.” In contesting the House Republican’s use of legislation funding the federal government to block or alter the Affordable Care Act and its implementation, Schaller notes: The Constitution clearly establishes that a bill becomes a law if it passes both chambers of Congress and is signed by the president or if his veto is overridden by two-thirds supermajorities in both chambers. In 2010, Democrats in Congress passed, and President Barack Obama signed, the Affordable Care… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, Op-ed in The Baltimore Sun

The threat of a government shutdown has become a reality and political science professor Roy Meyers is again in the news describing the direct and indirect costs of this action. NBC News shared Meyers’ finding that the 1995-65 closure of national parks, monuments and battlefields alone cost businesses and local governments $295 million by preventing seven million park visits. In MSNBC coverage of the shutdown, Meyers shared the importance of not just accounting for all of those costs, but also for those that are less measurable. “The real costs are really not in terms of consumer confidence or any of… Continue Reading Roy Meyers, Political Science, in The Hill, Washington Post, Le Monde, on NBC News and More

Although Maryland voters won’t elect a new governor until the November 2013 general election, six gubernatorial candidates are already “poised to start running in earnest — touring the state, signing up volunteers and raising millions of dollars for a spirited race,” reports The Baltimore Sun. “We’re moving into this phase when the policy and platforms are being rolled out,” says UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller. “It doesn’t necessarily mean that voters want to be on that timeline.” Why the rush? Because of a change by the General Assembly in 2011, the primary will be held in June rather than… Continue Reading Thomas Schaller, Political Science, in The Baltimore Sun

Throughout the week, with a possible government shutdown looming, UMBC political science professor Roy T. Meyers has provided analysis for media from the Washington Post to USA Today on the costs of previous shutdowns and what is at stake this time around. On NPR’s Morning Edition today, Meyers noted that it’s hard to estimate the true cost of a shutdown: For example, what does it cost the American people when you tell somebody who leads the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to plan for a shutdown rather than try to reduce or eliminate public health threats. To me, the… Continue Reading Roy T. Meyers, Political Science, on NPR’s Morning Edition

As the nation again faces the risk of a government shutdown, media have been turning to political science professor Roy Meyers’ research on past shutdowns to understand what is at stake. In 1996, the Office of Management and Budget reported that the two major shutdowns of the decade cost approximately $1.4 billion ($2 billion in today’s dollars), but Meyers has suggested that estimate didn’t account for several factors, such as the lost value of work that wasn’t done, $300 million federal parks would have taken in if they had remained open, and the reduced pace of IRS audits. Inefficiencies and… Continue Reading Roy T. Meyers, Political Science, in the Washington Post, USA Today and More