Election 2024: Providing insight during a pivotal campaign season

Aug 27, 2024

2 min

Kassra OskooiiDavid RedlawskDannagal YoungYasser PayneTimothy J. Shaffer


Voter behavior and emotion, civil discourse, the spread of misinformation, the role of gender and race in politics and conspiracy theories are among the many topics University of Delaware experts can comment on during this final stretch of the 2024 campaign.



David Redlawsk


Professor of Political Science

and International Relations


Expertise: Political psychologist who studies voter behavior and emotion, focuses on how voters process political information to make their decisions. He has written several books on politics, worked behind the scenes on campaigns and ran for local office.




Dannagal Young


Professor of Communication

Director of the Center for Political Communication


Expertise: The spread of misinformation in politics and the intersection of entertainment and information, with an emphasis on political satire, political media effects, public opinion and the psychology of political humor.




Kassra Oskooii


Professor of Political Science and International Relations


Expertise: Focuses on the interplay between the contextual and psychological determinants of political opinions and behaviors of high and low status group members.






Erin Cassese


Professor of Political Science and International Relations


Expertise: Explores the behavior of women as voters and candidates for political office, and studies political psychology, gender stereotypes, public opinion, elections and the intersection of religion and politics.





Yasser Payne


Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies


Expertise: Research program also focuses on Black racial identity; street identity; economic and educational opportunity or the impact of structural violence.






Tim Shaffer


SNF Ithaca Director

Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse


Expertise: Civil discourse in politics; can talk about partisanship, polarization and their impact on media outlets. advancement of democratic practices by focusing on the role of civic professionals in institutional settings.




Alice Ba


Professor and acting chair, Political Science and International Relations.


Expertise: Her work on the international relations of East and Southeast Asia examines the structures, processes, and systemic effects of regionalism and cooperative regime building, as well as relations between smaller and major powers.




Joanne Miller


Professor of American Politics, Research Methods and Political Psychology


Expertise: Studies political psychology, with an emphasis on political propaganda, misinformation and conspiracy theories.






Muqtedar Khan


Professor of Comparative Politics, International Relations and Political Theory


Expertise: Issues surrounding U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim World as well as national security and counter-terrorism.





To speak with any of these experts, simply visit their profle and click on the "contact" button, which will send a message directly to them (while also copying UD's media relations team).






Connect with:
Kassra Oskooii

Kassra Oskooii

Associate Professor, American Politics, Political Psychology and Race and Ethnic Politics; Director of Internships

Prof. Oskooii's research expertise include political psychology, public opinion, voting rights and redistricting.

Race and Ethnic PoliticsPolitical PsychologyPublic OpinionVoting RightsRedistricting
David Redlawsk

David Redlawsk

Professor and Chair, Political Science Political Science and International Relations

Prof. Redlawsk is a political psychologist with expertise in campaigns, voter behavior, decision making, and emotion.

Political CampaignsDecision MakingSurvey ResearchPoliticsVoter Beavior and Attitudes
Dannagal Young

Dannagal Young

Professor, Communication

Prof. Young's research interests include political media effects, media psychology, public opinion and the psychology of misinformation.

Psychology of Political BeliefsPublic OpinionPolitical Media EffectsMedia PsychologyIntersection of Entertainment and Information
Yasser Payne

Yasser Payne

Professor, Sociology and Criminal Justice; Africana Studies

Prof. Payne's research examines gun violence; policing and reentry; and educational inequality in street-identified populations.

Gun ViolenceStreet EthnographySchool Violence and School-To-Prison PipelineExperiences With PoliceEthnographic Field Research‎‎
Timothy J. Shaffer

Timothy J. Shaffer

Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Chair of Civil Discourse

Prof. Shaffer studies the advancement of democratic practices by focusing on the role of civic professionals in institutional settings.

Civic EngagementPublic PolicyCivil DiscourseCommunicationDeliberative Democracy
Powered by

You might also like...

Check out some other posts from University of Delaware

2 min

How corporate competition can spur collaborative solutions to the world's problems

Why can’t large competitive companies come together to work on or solve environmental challenges, AI regulation, polarization or other huge problems the world is facing? They can, says the University of Delaware’s Wendy Smith. While it's difficult, the key is to have these companies collaborate under the guise of competition. Smith, a professor of management and an expert on these types of paradoxes, co-authored a recent three-year study of one of the most profound collaborations. Her team looked at the unlikely alliance of 13 competitive oil and gas companies that eventually formed Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), which works with experts worldwide to find innovative solutions for environmental and technical challenges in the region. Smith and her co-authors found that those companies were willing to collaborate, but only when collaboration was cast in the language, practices and goals of competition. Given the scope of our global problems, companies must continually work together to offer solutions. Creating that collaboration becomes critical, Smith said. This research offers important insight about how these collaborations are possible. Among the study's key findings: Competition can drive cooperation — if leaders harness it. It would make sense to assume that competition undermines collaboration. But the study finds that those who championed alliances used competitive dynamics to strengthen cooperation among rival firms. Rather than suppressing rivalry, leaders leveraged competition as a mechanism to enable joint action toward shared environmental goals. This reframes how organizations can manage tensions between competition and cooperation in partnerships. For example, COSIA leaders created competition between partners to see who would contribute the most valuable environmental innovations. Partners could only gain as much benefit from other company’s innovations commensurate with what they shared. A “Paradox Mindset” is key to complex collaborative success. The research identifies the importance of what the authors call a paradox mindset, which sees competition and cooperation not as opposites to be balanced but as interrelated forces that can be used in tandem. Leaders in the study who adopted this mindset were more thoughtful and creative about how to engage both competitive and collaborative practices in the same alliance. Traditional balance isn’t the goal — process over stability. Instead of pursuing a simplistic “balance” between competing and cooperating, the study shows that effective alliances evolve through process, where competition remains visible and even useful throughout the lifecycle of the alliance. To connect with Smith directly and arrange an interview, visit her profile and click on the "contact" button. Interested journalists can also send an email to MediaRelations@udel.edu.

1 min

Why homelessness is more than a housing issue for students

More than 4,400 students in Delaware were identified as experiencing homelessness during the 2022–23 school year, a number that continues to rise.  Ann M. Aviles, associate professor in the University of Delaware’s College of Education and Human Development, studies education equity, social policy and services for children and families. She is co-author of a new book, "Serving Students Who Are Homeless: A Resource Guide for Schools, Districts, Educational Leaders, and Community Partners", which offers practical guidance for educators navigating the challenges of student homelessness. Nationwide, more than 1.3 million school-aged children experience homelessness annually. While housing instability is often viewed as a social services issue, research shows it has direct and profound consequences for student learning, engagement and well-being. Housing instability affects every aspect of a student’s daily life. Students may be worried about where they will sleep, whether they will have food or how they’ll get home after school. That uncertainty makes it much harder to focus on learning, Aviles said. A key recommendation in Aviles’ new book is stronger collaboration between schools and community organizations. She encourages districts to develop community resource maps that identify local food pantries, shelters, health providers and other support services. She also emphasizes the importance of public understanding of homelessness as a systemic issue shaped by policy, affordability and access to services. To speak with Aviles further, email mediarelations@udel.edu. 

2 min

Maduro is gone; expert details potential impact on the Caribbean

Globally, the ousting of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has been met with a mix of reactions and cautious optimism. The University of Delaware’s Kalim Shah can discuss how regime change will play across the Caribbean and the spillover effect that will ripple throughout the region – and the world – in the years and decades to come. Shah, professor of energy and environmental policy and an expert on the island nations of the Caribbean, says that although public statements have been muted and restrained, there is a shared understanding. “For small island states that have absorbed the effects of Venezuelan collapse for more than two decades, this moment represents the possible end of a long and destabilizing chapter,” Shah said. Caribbean governments are not celebrating regime change, Shah said. Rather, they are responding to the prospect of reduced systemic risk. “A Venezuela that no longer exports large-scale displacement, opaque energy leverage and permissive criminal governance is objectively preferable for the region.” Shah can discuss several aspects of Venezuela’s political history, how the nation has arrived where it is, where it might be headed and the impact this will have on the Caribbean as a whole. Those include: • Venezuela’s political and economic deterioration during the Chávez–Maduro era and how that has translated directly into pressures felt across the Caribbean in the form of migration, fiscal exposure, security risks and regional uncertainty. • How the nation’s institutional collapse coincided with deepening organized crime activity across the Caribbean basin. Data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime consistently places the region within major cocaine trafficking corridors linking South America with North American and European markets. For Caribbean governments, this meant higher interdiction costs, increased exposure to transnational criminal networks and growing pressure on already limited security institutions. • This moment invites a reassessment of China’s expanding footprint in the Caribbean, Shah says. He can discuss the ways in which Beijing has deepened its presence throughout the region. Shah says that as this transition unfolds, five policy developments will determine whether the cautious optimism proves warranted: • The impact on Venezuelan outward migration to the Caribbean. • Whether Caribbean public systems receive durable support rather than short-term humanitarian fixes. • Organized crime and drug trafficking pressures in the Caribbean basin. • External security engagement in the Caribbean. • Whether the region avoids a return to dependency-driven energy and infrastructure politics. “For the Caribbean, hope today is not naïve. It is conditional. The Chávez–Maduro years imposed real costs on the region. Their end creates an opening…but only if policy follows through,” Shah said. To contact Shah directly for interviews, visit his expert page and click on the "contact" button. Interested reporters can also send an email to mediarelations@udel.edu.

View all posts