Government in America

George C. Edwards III is Distinguished Professor of political science at Texas A&M University. He also holds the Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies in the Bush School, and has served as the Olin Professor of American Government at Oxford, the John Adams Fellow at the University of London, and held senior visiting appointments at Peking University, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was the founder and from 1991-2001 the director of The Center for Presidential Studies.

When he determined that he was unlikely to become shortstop for the New York Yankees, he turned to political science. Today, he is one of the country's leading scholars of the presidency, he has authored dozens of articles and has written or edited 21 books on American politics and public policy making, including At the Margins: Presidential Leadership of Congress, Presidential Approval, Presidential Leadership, National Security and the U.S. Constitution, Implementing Public Policy, and Researching the Presidency. He is also editor of Presidential Studies Quarterly and consulting editor of the Oxford Handbook of American Politics series. Among his latest books, On Deaf Ears: The Limits of the Bully Pulpit is a study of the effectiveness of presidential leadership of public opinion; Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America advocates direct election of the president; and Governing by Campaigning focuses on the politics of the Bush presidency.

Professor Edwards has served as president of the Presidency Research Section of the American Political Science Association and on many editorial boards. He has received the Decoration for Distinguished Civilian Service from the U.S. Army, the Pi Sigma Alpha Prize from the Southern Political Science Association, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has spoken to more than 200 universities and other groups in the United States and abroad, keynoted numerous national and international conferences, given hundreds of interviews with the national and international press, and can often be heard on National Public Radio. His work has been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Smith-Richardson Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Roper Center and the Board of Trustees of the Center for the Study of the Presidency.

Dr. Edwards also applies his scholarship to practical issues of governing, including advising Brazil on its constitution and the operation of its presidency, Russia on building a democratic national party system, Mexico on elections, and Chinese scholars on democracy; and authoring studies for the 1988 and 2000 U.S. presidential transitions.

When not writing, speaking, or advising, he prefers to spend his time with his wife, Carmella, sailing, skiing, scuba diving, traveling, or attending art auctions.



Martin P. Wattenberg is professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine. His first regular paying job was with the Washington Redskins, from which he moved on to receive a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan. He is the author of Is Voting for Young People?, which is part of Longman's "Great Questions in Politics" series. In addition, he is the author of several books published by Harvard University Press: Where Have All the Voters Gone? (2002), The Decline of American Political Parties (1998), and The Rise of Candidate-Centered Politics (1991).

Professor Wattenberg has lectured about American politics on all of the inhabited continents. His travels have led him to become interested in electoral politics around the world. He has co-edited two books published by Oxford University Press-one on party systems in the advanced industrialized world, and the other on the recent trend toward mixed-member electoral systems.



Robert L. Lineberry is professor of political science at the University of Houston and has been its senior vice president. He served from 1981 to 1988 as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

A native of Oklahoma City, he received a B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1964 and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina in 1968. He taught for seven years at Northwestern University.

Dr. Lineberry has been president of the Policy Studies Section of the American Political Science Association and is currently the editor of Social Science Quarterly. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books and articles in political science. In addition, for the past 35 years he has taught regularly the introductory course in American government.

He has been married to Nita Lineberry for 43 years. They have two children, Nikki, who works in Denver, and Keith, who works in Houston. They have six grandchildren-Lee, Hunter, Callie, Arwen, Elijah, and Eleanor.



John D. Rausch, Jr. is associate professor of political science at West Texas A&M University. Before moving to Canyon, Texas, he taught at Fairmont State College in northcentral West Virginia from 1994 through 1998. Dave serves as faculty athletics representative at WTAMU.

A native of Berks County, Pennsylvania, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1989. He received a Masters of Arts degree in political science from the University of Oklahoma in 1992 and, in 1995, he received a Ph.D. in political science from the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center and the University of Oklahoma.

Dr. Rausch began his career in politics in the summer of 1976 when assisted his father in the first of four unsuccessful attempts to gain a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He spent a summer as an intern in the press and research department of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., and a year as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the office of Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC). Dave is the author of numerous articles in political science journals and the associate editor of an encyclopedia on Congress.

When he is not researching political phenomena or providing analysis for Amarillo television news, he spends time with his librarian wife Mary working as an off-ice official for the Central Hockey League..



Reed L. Welch is a proud Texan. He was born and raised in Wichita Falls and has spent most of his life in Texas. He graduated in political science from Brigham Young University and received a Ph.D. in political science from Texas A&M University.

Dr. Welch is currently an associate professor of political science and assistant director of the Honors Program at West Texas A&M University. He has published numerous articles in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Congress and the Presidency,and Presidential Studies Quarterly, among many other articles, columns, and reviews.

Dr. Welch and his wife Jennifer have six children: Regan, Emily, Will, Lindsey, Nathan, and Reece, whose ages range from high school to a baby. Much of his time outside the university is spent watching his children's sporting events, recitals, and many other events and activities as well as rooting for the Dallas Cowboys, Texas Rangers, and the Dallas Mavericks.