OSU Faculty Experts Advisory for 2008 Presidential Election
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
(August 19, 2008 Stillwater, OK) - For stories about the 2008 presidential campaign,
consider the following sources from the Department of Political Science at Oklahoma
State University. Listed with each source is a brief description of his or her area
of expertise.
Robert Darcy, Regents Professor of political science and statistics, is widely published on elections
and has spoken on the subject to academic audiences and the public in the United States,
Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. He frequently is interviewed on radio and
television, as well as quoted as an expert source in newspapers. He is well versed
on Oklahoma politics, election systems, the Electoral College, voting methods and
devices, convention delegate selection and women in politics. http://polsci.okstate.edu/darcy.html
Contact Information:
Office: (405) 744-5641
E-mail: bob.darcy@okstate.edu
Rebekah Herrick, associate professor, is an expert in the areas of gender and politics, issues of
representation and political ambition, particularly as they relate to U.S. legislators.
She has an interest in electability of minority legislators and the effect of minority
legislators on policy-making. She also is interested in how the structure of legislatures
and elections affect how legislators represent their constituents. She has published
research on legislative ethics. http://polsci.okstate.edu/herrick.html
Contact Information:
E-mail: rebekah.herrick@okstate.edu
Jason Kirksey, associate professor, is the Hannah Adkins Professor of Political Science. His expertise
is the area of race and politics with a special emphasis on blacks in the American
political system. He also has expertise in voting and elections, and alternative election
systems. http://polsci.okstate.edu/kirksey.html
Office: (405) 744-5575
E-mail: jason.kirksey@okstate.edu
Jeanette Mendez, assistant professor, is a specialist in American political behavior. Her current
research focuses on media effects during campaigns, particularly public perceptions
of media bias, and the effects of candidate gender and facial appearance on election
outcomes. For the 2008 presidential election, she is working on a project assessing
the effect of digital television on age and appearance differences during candidate
debates. For the fall semester, she teaches a course titled “The 2008 Election,” which
focuses on analyzing the competitive house, Senate, gubernatorial and presidential
races for November 2008. http://polsci.okstate.edu/mendez.html
Contact information:
Office: (405) 744-4477
E-mail: jeanette.mendez@okstate.edu
James M. Scott, professor and head of the department of political sciences, specializes in international
relations and U.S. foreign policy. He has written widely on foreign policy-making,
presidential decision-making, and legislative-executive relations in foreign policy.
Current projects include studies of U.S. democracy promotion abroad, congressional
foreign policy-making and the instruments of U.S. foreign policy. http://polsci.okstate.edu/pdf/Scott%20CV.pdf
Office: (405) 744-5569
E-mail: james.scott@okstate.edu