{"id":5863,"date":"2017-03-29T12:53:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T16:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/groups.etown.edu\/news\/?p=5863"},"modified":"2017-04-05T15:52:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T19:52:59","slug":"medal-of-freedom-research-brings-media-attention-for-ppls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2017\/03\/29\/medal-of-freedom-research-brings-media-attention-for-ppls\/","title":{"rendered":"Medal of Freedom research brings media attention for PPLS"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>When Bob Dylan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, Elizabethtown College Professor of Political Science Fletcher McClellan wondered about the politics behind this medals\u2019 practice.<\/p>\n

He shared his research idea with Kyle Kopko, assistant dean for academic achievement and engagement and associate professor of political science, and, after spending a summer developing research questions, they approached senior students Jillian Casey \u201913 and Julia Ward \u201913 about assisting with research. They were seniors at the time.<\/p>\n

According to Kopko, Casey and Ward worked closely with him, McClellan and Christopher Devine, assistant professor of political science at the University of Dayton. Their primary job, he said, was to gather and code data. The students created a database of each recipient, categorized them as Republican or Democrat and classified the field of the recipient.<\/p>\n

While the analysis of data fell mainly to Devine, Kopko and McClellan, the writing of the paper was splint among all five participants.<\/p>\n

Much of their findings, McClellan said, were consistent with expectations. Democratic presidents gave more awards to civil rights leaders or labor leaders, while Republicans gave more awards to military leaders. Though they had thought gender differences might arise, they discovered Republican and Democratic presidents were equally likely to hand awards to women.<\/p>\n

Also it was found that, since its beginning in the Johnson administration, the ceremonies for the Medal of Freedom have been made into large scale events garnering national attention from the press. According to Kopko, this change could indicate a president\u2019s attempt to shift public opinion and to influence their legacy by choosing with whom they permanently want to be associated.<\/p>\n

The awarding of these medals are unique in that the decisions are made by the president and, maybe, a few senior aides, McClellan said. \u201cThese are people that presidents admire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward and Casey became involved with the project because they had a previously existing working relationship with one or both of the professors. Prior to her involvement in the research, Ward said, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was not an area of interest. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty niche area of politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this was one of the greatest things about E-town. [There are] so many opportunities to develop relationships with faculty and do research with them,\u201d Casey added. \u201cYou don’t get the same opportunities at larger schools because you don’t have the ability to develop such a close relationship … .\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward agreed and urged students to take advantage of similar opportunities. \u201cThe best part about partnering with faculty is the relationship you build,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a dynamic change where you become colleagues. You\u2019re working together on a project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The research team\u2019s findings were presented in January 2013 at the Southern Political Science Association in Orlando, Fla. Ward and Casey had an active role in presenting. After receiving good feedback, they published the paper. It took some time, but eventually the New England Journal of Political Science picked up the piece.<\/p>\n

According to Kopko, they originally thought the project would be used by scholars or as a reference item for reporters seeking more information on the topic. \u201cOver the years since it was published \u2013 just two years now \u2013 it\u2019s gotten publicity in the New York Times, U.S. News & World Report and the Washington Post,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe media is picking up more on political science research,\u201d said McClellan. \u201cThere are a lot of outlets that are using political science research to inform the debate or understand and analyze what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ward and Casey went on to receive Fulbright Scholarships; Casey pursued her master\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n

Both agree that working on this project helped to build important skills for graduate and law school. In May, Ward and Casey will both graduate from Georgetown University Law Center. The paper has been a common conversation topic at job interviews, Ward said.<\/p>\n

Kopko intends to keep the project going. \u201cWhenever there\u2019s a ceremony announced we\u2019ll add to the database and, periodically, write an op-ed or something of that nature,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be interesting\u2026 [to see] what kind of causes [and] what kind of American heroes [President Donald Trump will] want to associate himself and his administration with,\u201d McClellan said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Bob Dylan was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in May 2012 by then-President Barack Obama, Elizabethtown College Professor of Political Science Fletcher McClellan wondered about the politics behind this medals\u2019 practice. He shared his research idea with Kyle Kopko, assistant dean for academic achievement and engagement and associate professor of political science, and, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":5864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[178,764],"tags":[490,1128,436,772],"class_list":["post-5863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-achievements","category-research-and-academics","tag-achievements-2","tag-feature","tag-politics","tag-politics-philosophy-and-legal-studies","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5863"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5865,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5863\/revisions\/5865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}