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In the fall of 2004, when Young Han '06 decided to register to vote in Clinton, he never thought his simple request would soon be the focus of national attention.

What better internship could there be for Hamilton’s former Student Assembly president than working at the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB)? Silvia Radulescu ’17 is spending her summer at the non-partisan, independent city agency whose mission is to improve campaigns and elections in the city by reducing the potential for corruption.  Radulescu’s internship is supported by the Levitt Center.

The antics of the current election season have many Americans skeptically weighing the value of issues and entertainment in media coverage. In reality, “entertainment politics” has been the norm since the 1968 campaign, though likely having roots much earlier. A screening of the 2015 documentary Best of Enemies and a panel discussion explored the history of such politicking.

Last semester, Hamilton students enrolled in Professor Phil Klinkner's Government 223 class were educated on the political dynamics of the presidential nomination process, paying special attention to the 2016 election cycle.  The class presented students with the unique opportunity to earn half of the class' credit in the traditional classroom setting while earning the other half credit by volunteering on a presidential campaign over their winter breaks.  Brian Ferrell '16 worked on Republican Jeb Bush's campaign in Iowa and Mike Verostek '16 was a volunteer with Hillary Clinton's campaign  in New Hampshire. Today and on Monday, Jan. 25, their articles recount the experiences of just two of the students who took advantage of this extraordinary opportunity.

Among the many national news outlets that have reported on Republican domination of significant races in this month’s general election,  several have quoted  James S. Sherman Professor of Government . In a Nov. 5 New Yorker Obama and the G.O.P.’s Red Sea,” columnist John Cassidy referenced  Klinkner’s Oct. 26 essay, “The Democrats’ woes are overstated,” published by Vox. 

Hamilton students are known for their leadership potential, whether in the classroom, on the field, or in the organizations they manage. Like many graduates, government major Jake London ’14 is translating the leadership skills he learned at the College into a promising career path. After starting early this summer London is serving as campaign manager for New Hampshire state senate candidate Chris Muns, hitting the ground running as he explores a long-term career in political organizing.

Despite the hope that President Obama’s clear victory last November might lead to a reduction in partisan polarization, the results of a new survey conducted by the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center at Hamilton College indicate that American are as divided as ever.

In the last talk of a semester-long series on the election season, The Publius Society invited Professor Phil Klinkner of Hamilton’s Government Department to give his thoughts in “An Election Post-Mortem.”

Tonight Hamilton students will participate with students from six universities across the country in a live, pilot polling project during the presidential debate. Via a new smart phone application, more than a hundred students will be able to “register their in-the-moment reactions to what candidates are saying during a debate, using button taps (e.g. Agree and Disagree), and answering pre- and post-debate survey questions (e.g. partisanship, issue priorities, demographics),” according to the developer’s website.

Despite being the world’s oldest continuous democracy, the United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates in the developed world. Peter Adelfio ’13 and Benjamin Anderson ’14 have been awarded a Levitt Group Research Grant to study this paradox by conducting a controlled experiment on methods of increasing voter turnout. They’re being advised by James S. Sherman Professor of Government Philip Klinkner.