Experts

Rogers Smith

Professor of Political Science and Associate Dean for Social Sciences.
School of Arts & Sciences.
University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Smith researches constitutional law, American political thought and modern and legal political theory, with special interests in questions of citizenship, race, ethnicity and gender. He’s the author of Still a House Divided: Race & Politics in Obama’s America, Living in a Promiseland? Mexican Immigration and American Obligations and Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History. 

Quote regarding 1965 Voting Rights Act: "Political scientists have long noted that Congress has been re-enacting the Voting Rights Act without careful attention to whether its remedies are well tailored to address current abuses, and that left the law legally vulnerable.  It addresses some problems that no longer exist and misses newer ones.  But in a country with a long history of voting discrimination, there is no question that a strong Voting Rights Act is still needed -- and Shelby County's record of altering electoral systems for invidious purposes is a prime example of why that is so."

 

Media Contact

Jill DiSanto | 215.898.2956 | jdisanto@upenn.edu