Alesha Doan -
Assistant professor, political science
R. Steve Dick/University Relations
Alesha Doan, assistant professor of political science, researches race and gender issues in politics and their effects on society.
Years at current job: 2 years.
Job duties: Research, teaching and service, which includes department committees, graduate student committees, university committees and service to the community such as giving lectures to non-profit organizations, student organizations and media inquiries.
You've written about the pro-life movement's use of unconventional methods in achieving its political goals. While many of these methods have been successful, are any of them actually detrimental to the cause? While many of the unconventional tactics employed by the pro-life movement are successful there is certainly a limit to the tactics. In my research I conceptualize pro-life tactics (and social movement tactics more generally) as a continuum. On one end of the spectrum lies activities such as protests and demonstrations and on the other end is extreme activity such as bombing and murders. In terms of American political culture, society is by and large very tolerant of non-violent protests and demonstrations. However, society's tolerance for unconventional political tactics significantly diminishes as those tactics move along the continuum toward extreme and violent tactics. When fringe pro-life groups or activists participate in illegal acts of violence, it is detrimental to the larger movement because society tends to merge the behavior of extremists with moderates, which tends to paint the larger movement in a fanatical light and ultimately tarnishes the reputation (and in turn the goals of) the entire movement.
Part of your research is in race and gender in politics. How do you think this election year, in which a female and an African-American candidate have played major roles, will change American politics? I believe this historic election year will have several lasting effects, particularly in respect to how voters are perceived by politicians, pundits and students of politics. First, the protracted primary elections have left many political pundits to comment on the divisive impact it has had on the Democratic Party and its supporters. I believe that this election year will have a lasting impact, however, for different reasons. I believe a more accurate assessment is to point out how politically engaged and galvanized the public has been through this process. When voters have a choice between two quality candidates and they can tangibly identify how and why their individual vote makes a difference, it inspires people to participate in politics. Simply examining Sen. Barak Obama's fundraising efforts underscores the impact individuals can have in politics. He has raised a record breaking amount of campaign contributions and the bulk has been through small donations from individual voters. Senators Clinton and Obama have also changed American politics by opening the door to new possibilities - running a viable campaign as a woman and an African-American.
Unfortunately, along with new possibilities, the campaign has also highlighted the multiple ways in which gender and racial stereotyping continues to undermine and hamper the probability of success for future female and minority presidential candidates. Although little attention has been given to the gender and racial dynamics at play in the election, they continue to play a significant (even if unspoken) role, which will likely receive much scholarly attention in the coming years.
In terms of reproductive policy, nearly everyone is aware of the abortion debate. What other reproductive policy issues are important in today's political landscape? Reproductive policy is a generic label for policy issues that relate directly and indirectly to policies governing the reproductive functions of the body. Of course I believe all of these policies are important, however, the relevance of these policies in today's political landscape partially depends on the context and location. Domestic reproductive policies include a host of policies regulating abortion, family planning, teenage pregnancy, sexuality education, sexual infections and diseases, fetal protection and rights, stem cell research, welfare, parental rights or infertility practices to name a few. These policies take on different importance at different times. For example, most recently teenage pregnancy has been elevated in importance following the alleged "pregnancy pact" among 17 teens in Massachusetts, whereas stem cell research was a very important political issue two years ago. Globally, other reproductive policy issues such as maternal health, HIV/AIDS, and sexual violence are more salient.
In studying the policy implications regarding stem cell research, what have you found as results of the restrictions currently placed on such research? The federal restrictions placed on stem cell research have resulted in two main developments: state policymaking and an unregulated biomedical private industry. Many states have forged ahead and created their own policies. Some of the states have developed very restrictive policies and other states have developed permissive policies. For the latter group of states, they are trying to attract researchers and corporate interests in the biomedical field, which is an international (and growing) field. Private industry has also taken the lead because policymaking at the federal level has been stalled. A similar situation occurred in the past over IVF technology. The federal government did not take a lead in determining policy so essentially the fertility industry developed privately. The absence of policy making pertaining to IVF technology as well as stem cell research can be advantageous for research and development efforts because it is free from regulation. However, the other implication is that private interests are free from abiding by a set of agreed upon ethical standards and practices.
What do you enjoy most about your profession? I really enjoy researching and uncovering the complexities - social, economical, political and ethical issues--underlying reproductive policies and in turn, making this complex process accessible to students.
Besides "hot button" issues such as abortion and stem cell research, what, in your opinion, are the social policies that have had the most profound and long lasting effects? Abortion policy is a hard one to top, but in terms of other social policies that have had a profound and lasting effect I believe welfare policy is one such policy. The scope of welfare policy is wide reaching and has had a lasting and profound effect not only in terms of determining the monetary aid offered to indigent members of society, but also in terms of how society views people in need.
What are some aspects of your job others might not realize you're involved with? Aside from obvious job responsibilities, I spend time educating people and groups who are interested in politics but lack the resources to study it more formally.
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