Tony Smith
Professor of Political Science and Law | UC Irvine
Irvine, CA, UNITED STATES
Tony Smith’s knowledge of politics includes Constitutional Law, the U.S. Supreme Court and election law.
Spotlight
Media
Publications:
Documents:
Videos:
Audio/Podcasts:
Biography
Tony Smith’s knowledge of politics covers a large spectrum that includes Constitutional Law, the intricate workings and rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court, election law, and the contest over rights in both a domestic and global context.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Political Science
International Law
Legal Institutions
US Politics
Comparative Law
Education (2)
University of California, San Diego: PhD, Political Science 2004
University of Florida: JD, Law 1987
Affiliations (6)
- APSA
- MPSA
- LSA
- ISA
- IPSA
- WPSA
Links (3)
Media Appearances (9)
Your Voice Your Vote 2024
KABC Eyewitness News tv
2024-11-08
As we get more election results into the Eyewitness newsroom, we want to get analysis of what we are actually seeing as well. So, joining us is Tony Smith, professor of political science and law at UC Irvine. … “I think things are going exactly like most people thought they were going to. It’s a very close race. … We have a long night ahead of us still,” says Smith
President Biden drops out of presidential race
KABC online
2024-07-21
Well, this historic moment could face some challenges in court. To help us understand what this means for Democrats and the future nominee, here’s Professor of Political Science and Law, Tony Smith from UC Irvine. “Well, here’s the thing: Biden is not yet the official nominee. … The Speaker of the House is trying to add to the chaos by saying something he knows isn’t true, and that is that ‘The ballots can’t be changed now.’ The ballots haven’t been printed yet – there is no Democratic nominee for the presidency yet because the convention has not yet anointed one – or voted for one. So, this is a bunch of nonsense,” says Smith.
Did President Biden do enough to silence his doubters with tonight's NATO news conference? KNX News breaks down the POTUS performance
KNX News 97.1FM radio
2024-07-11
With so many doubts about his mental and physical fitness, President Biden's every word will be heavily scrutinized ... his every move analyzed. The future of his reelection campaign could take off ... or crash land ... depending on the president's performance right now. So how did he do? … Tony Smith is a professor of political science and law at UC Irvine; he's also Editor-in-Chief of Political Research Quarterly. … “If Biden has assuaged enough people to not to, to believe that he could still beat Trump, then the rebellion ends. If Nancy Pelosi decided yesterday or today after the news conference, he just doesn't have what it takes, then the rebellion is going to flare up. “
Can delegates really 'vote their conscience,' as President Biden suggests?
KNX News 97.1 FM radio
2024-07-11
In response to a question about reports circulating that members of his own party want him to step aside, the President said delegates are free to 'vote their conscience,' at the convention in August. … Tony Smith, professor of political science and law at UC Irvine, “It's irrelevant that he said that because the candidate doesn't really control the delegates. The rules will dictate whether the delegates can actually vote how they want or not, and what the candidates say, don't really control it.”
Trump found guilty on all counts
KABC online
2024-05-30
Our country has never had a former president convicted of a crime. There are now a lot of questions about what this could mean for his future. Joining us now is Tony Smith, professor of political science and law for UC Irvine. “I practiced law for about twenty years before I went into academics and when a prosecution team does a good job of laying out the story about why the defendant should be convicted, it usually doesn’t take long for the jury to come back. In essence, this is really not a complicated case,” says Smith.
Trump could “shoot somebody in the head” and not lose support: political expert
KNX News online
2024-05-30
Former President Donald Trump was found guilty Thursday of 34 felony counts in a New York trial centering around his hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. He’s the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a felony – but will it impact the November election? Probably not much, [UC Irvine professor of political science and law] political analyst Tony Smith told KNX News. “Trump could literally shoot somebody in the head in the middle of Fifth Avenue and his hardcore supporters, in a Jim Jones-like fashion, will say he deserved it,” Smith said. But he noted that Trump’s loyal supporters aren’t a majority of the country – and his conviction could lose him a handful of undecided voters in key swing districts.
New poll shows former President Trump ahead of President Biden in key states
KNX News 97.1 FM radio
2023-11-06
KNX's Chief Correspondent Charles Feldman talks to UC Irvine political science and law professor Tony Smith about a New York Times/Siena College poll that shows former President Trump leading President Biden in five swing states. “The mistake I think a lot of the polling organizations are making right now is that they are assuming the Republican party has not changed in size from the last election but if you look at things like voter registration and turnout in the midterm elections and other indicators, the Republican party is smaller under Trump than it was before. So, I think these polls are all overstating the Republican share of the vote a good bit,” says Smith.
Trump indicted for third time
UCI School of Social Sciences online
2023-08-01
Mr. Trump is facing four felony counts including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The indictment also alleges Trump knew the claims he advanced about the election were false yet he repeated them for months …. Joining us now is Tony Smith, professor of political science and law at UC Irvine. … “I think it’s actually going to take quite a while to pull everything together, particularly because there’s a number of co-conspirators – and we don’t know who those people are yet – and every single one of them will be entitled to go through the discovery process and find out everything that’s going on.”
In California’s redrawn 47th district, the House race is a toss-up
PBS NewsHour online
2022-11-05
University of California, Irvine [political science and law] professor Tony Smith says when it comes to Orange County voters, there’s more than meets the eye. … But ultimately says Tony Smith, it may all come down to who exactly shows up to cast their ballot. … “We see 18- to 30-year-olds turning out and almost 40% if you can extrapolate from early voting, and that's going to be a historic high for that age group. And they're voting on abortion. That's what they're voting on.”
Research Grants (1)
When Do States Domesticate International Law
National Science Foundation $21,630
SES-1423578
Articles (5)
Immigration and public opinion: Will backlash impede immigrants’ policy progress?
Social Science Quarterly2021 We investigate the question: How should immigrants pursue policy in a system that privileges majority rule? Scholars suggest that opinion backlash impedes policy gains by marginalized groups. That is, pushing too hard for policy leads to backlash, a sharp and sustained negative reaction among citizens that delays these groups’ ability to obtain their desired policy.
Common Forms of Gerrymandering in the United States
Decyzje2019 Gerrymandering is a form of voting manipulation whereby electoral district boundaries are drawn to produce a partisan or political bias in elections. In this paper, we study partisan gerrymandering in the United States to understand its undemocratic outcomes and how the design of election institutions can promote or prevent gerrymandering.
Gill v. Whitford on Partisan Gerrymandering
SCOTUS 20182019 Challenges to gerrymandering by state legislatures raise questions of whether the Constitution mandates equal representation of all voters, or whether partisan sorting into geographic enclaves is a reality the Constitution does not prohibit, even when it results in unequal representation.
The ‘B’Isn’t Silent: Bisexual Communities and Political Activism
LGBTQ politics: A critical reader2017 In 2015, President Barack Obama became the first president to mention bisexuals in his state of the union speech. While President Bill Clinton mentioned “gays” in his 2000 speech, no president had ever before acknowledged the existence of bisexuals, lesbians, 1 or transgender people in this important forum.
Judicial Institution Builders: NGOs and International Human Rights Courts
Globalizing Human Rights2014 Current theories on international courts, civil society, and global governance overlook the burgeoning relationships between international courts and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). NGO participation at international courts takes many forms, including representing individual petitioners and acting as third parties as well as promoting and supporting the court through outreach, political advocacy, administrative support, and enforcement of judgments.
Social