“Finally, It’s Over: The 2016 Election and Its Aftermath”

How did we get to where we are today? Where are we going to go from here? This election cycle has been one of the most divisive campaigns in our nation’s history. It has been a very long and out-of-the-ordinary presidential campaign and a neck-and-neck U.S. Senate race in New Hampshire. A panel of American politics faculty members assessed the results of the national and state elections. This event analyzed the candidates and what their win – and loss – means for the state of New Hampshire and the rest of the countr and wrestled with the questions that have been bothering us throughout this election.

The panelists included Dartmouth College government professor and department chair Dean Lacy. Professor Lacy also serves as the Director of the Program in Politics and Law at the College. His research and teaching focuses on American and comparative politics, particularly elections, public opinion, and lawmaking. Additionally, Professor Lacy has written on the use and importance of economic sanctions in international relations, third party candidates, economic voting, referendums and initiatives, and divided government.

Dartmouth Government Professor Brendan Nyhan focuses on misperceptions about politics and health care; he also contributes to “The Upshot” at The New York Times, and previously served as a media critic for Columbia Journalism Review. Relevant to this election cycle, Professor Nyhan has been called “[o]ne of the smartest sources on 2016, the media, and electoral trends" (boston.com, Jan. 4, 2016) and described as one who is "creating reputational hazards to seat-of-the-pants punditry" (Bloomberg View, Mar. 27, 2012).

The event’s moderator was Professor Ronald Shaiko, who serves as the Associate Director for Curricular and Research Programs at The Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and the Social Sciences. Prior to coming to Dartmouth, Professor Shaiko was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Politics in the American Studies Center at Warsaw University in Poland during the 2000-2001 academic year. He previously taught at American University and served as the academic director of the Lobbying Institute. His political role has extended to the American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1993-1994 and as a Democracy Fellow at the United States Agency for International Development in 1998-1999.

“Finally, It’s Over: The 2016 Election and Its Aftermath” took place at Rockefeller 003 from 5:00-6:30 pm on Thursday, November 10^th, 2016.

Submitted by Alexa Green ’19, Rockefeller Center Student Program Assistant for Public Programs

The views and opinions expressed and any materials presented during a public program are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Rockefeller Center or constitute an endorsement by the Center.