The Tufts’ Political Science Department, International Relations Program and Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted a panel on Nov. 21 examining the outcome of the 2024 election.
Panelists discussed the implications of the election results on domestic and international politics.
The panel featured six professors: Michael Beckley, Samuel Gebru, Meredith Mclain, Malik Mufti, Deborah Schildkraut and Oxana Shevel. They discussed the implications of the incoming Trump administration on their respective fields of expertise.
McLain, assistant professor of the Political Science Department, began by discussing the domestic impacts of Trump’s incoming administration, including a potential Department of Government Efficiency.
“Presidents can create departments, and they can also appoint the people in them, so President Trump can create the Department of Government Efficiency. He cannot create it on his own. He is working in a separation of power system,” McLain said.
Continuing on domestic politics, Gebru, political science professor of the practice, discussed the impacts on U.S. state governments assuming more of a responsibility on contested social issues such as Trump’s promise of mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
“About 20% of the population in Massachusetts is foreign-born, and so there’s definitely some anxiety that’s looming in the air,” Gebru said.
In an interview with the Daily, Gebru also discussed the shift of issues such as reproductive rights being a critical factor at the state level along with foreign policy issues like immigration.
“I think you will start to see states push the envelope in terms of what they can and cannot do,” Gebru said. “This is not typically something you would assign Democrats the responsibility for. Republicans have traditionally held the states’ rights talking point, but you will start to see more Democratic governors flexing their muscles and trying to, in their view, safeguard their states from the second Trump administration.”
Gebru additionally highlighted U.S. relations with and how Trump will reshape the relationships and approach with Africa.
“I think what we’re going to see is a lot more of a transactional approach to the continent, which actually oddly, might be good for the continent when it comes to trade and investment issues,” Gebru said.
Mufti, professor of political science, elaborated on the international political implications of Trump’s non-interventionist approach in the Middle East.
“It doesn’t seem likely that President Trump is going to promote any resolution to the Palestinian conflict that will be anywhere near satisfactory to the Palestinian people,” Mufti said. “The Trump administration’s likely failure to move forward with any kind of resolution to the conflict is going to probably negatively impact U.S. interests in the region.”
Mufti also suggested that Palestine has radicalized domestic politics which was evident in voter outcomes for Arab and Muslim Americans.
With respect to the Ukraine-Russia war, Oxana Shevel, associate professor of Political Science and director of the International Relations program, discussed the associated optimism and pessimism with Trump’s incoming administration.
“Generally speaking, in Ukraine they were rather hoping for a Harris victory and in Russia they were rather hoping for a Trump victory. So in the face of it, it looks like things are sort of looking good for Russia,” Shevel said.
Shevel also said the conclusion of the war and a deal depends on the belief of the cause of the war. Shevel pointed out that the war isn’t about Ukraine’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization but rather Russia’s control of Ukraine and the removal of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
“Some of my colleagues think that Trump would be willing to give Putin everything he wants to sort of play with. I’m not so sure, because it’s one thing to come out of it as a good deal-maker. It’s another thing to just roll over to Putin and say, ‘Take everything you want,’” she said.
In regards to U.S.-China relations, Beckley, associate professor of political science, began by establishing that China has become a bipartisan issue since China has “seemingly angered pretty much every constituency.”
“I think Trump is definitely going to increase those tariffs as soon as he gets into office, in part because China has actually been ramping up its subsidies to its companies,” he said. “You’re going to see more tariffs coming from the EU as well as Japan, just because many countries’ trade deficits have really expanded greatly just in the last couple of years alone.”
Beckley added that under a Trump administration, there will be strong favor to defend Taiwan.
“You never know with Trump. I think it’s not a foregone conclusion, because Trump doesn’t seem to like war. He likes coercive bargaining, but I get the sense that he’s not actually ready to ignite what could be World War III over Taiwan,” Beckley said.
Schildkraut, professor of political science, finished the panel discussion with a focus on public opinion and political behavior. Schildkraut raised the possibility of international travel bans and provided insight into the future midterm elections in 2026. Typically, the president’s political party loses midterm elections for Congress.
“In terms of public opinion, it’s a mistake to interpret presidential election outcomes as the public wants everything [Trump] was talking about. The election was close, the popular vote margin was very close,” she said. “People vote the way they do for all sorts of complicated reasons.”
