tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/andrew-cuomo-14160/articlesAndrew Cuomo – The Conversation2023-05-04T12:10:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2044922023-05-04T12:10:32Z2023-05-04T12:10:32ZThe firings of Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson doesn’t mean the end of hyperpartisan cable news networks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523059/original/file-20230426-20-hol5pe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=684%2C19%2C3747%2C2750&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Then-CNN anchor Don Lemon speaks during a Democratic presidential debate in Detroit on July 31, 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/moderator-don-lemon-speaks-to-the-crowd-attending-the-news-photo/1165418659?adppopup=true">(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Television host <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/the-view-celebrating-tucker-carlson-exit-mourn-don-lemon-termination">Sara Haines</a> of ABC’s “The View” spoke for many viewers when she celebrated the departure of right-wing television host Tucker Carlson from the Fox News Network.</p>
<p>“I am happy to know someone like him no longer has the platform he had built,” she exclaimed. </p>
<p>Similarly, CNN anchor Don Lemon’s ouster on April 23, 2023 – the same day as Carlson’s – generated an equal amount of celebration from conservatives. </p>
<p>One of them was <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/24/nikki-haley-trolls-don-lemon-over-firing-hawks-beer-koozies/">Nikki Haley</a>, the presidential candidate and former governor of South Carolina, whom Lemon had previously described as a woman past her prime when she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/elections/100000008772357/nikki-haley-president-2024.html?searchResultPosition=2">launched her 2024 campaign</a>.</p>
<p>Lemon’s dismissal is “a great day for women everywhere,” Haley exclaimed. </p>
<p>In this age of hyperpartisan news programming, both Carlson and Lemon proved talented at providing perspectives that confirmed their audience’s view of the world.</p>
<p>It is not clear why Lemon and Carlson were fired, but in my view as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=YBntiP0AAAAJ">media scholar</a>, they were removed because they no longer provided the benefits their employers expected. </p>
<p>Instead, I believe they had become potential threats to the networks’ audience shares and advertising revenue. Rather than a victory for women or truth, I view these firings as an effort to sustain and grow corporate profits. </p>
<h2>Hyperpartisan news media</h2>
<p>The advent of <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520347878/the-anatomy-of-fake-news">cable news</a> in the 1980s created more channels for audiences to watch, and thus fractured the audience long dominated by networks NBC, ABC and CBS.</p>
<p>The internet, smartphones and social media <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Lets-Agree-to-Disagree-A-Critical-Thinking-Guide-to-Communication-Conflict/Higdon-Huff/p/book/9781032168982">further fragmented audiences</a>. As <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/hate-inc/">journalists</a> and <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520347878/the-anatomy-of-fake-news">media scholars</a> have noted, the solution for many media companies in the 1990s was to target their programming to a single demographic instead of trying to attract a larger, general audience. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb01921.x">Scholars</a> and <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/hate-inc/">journalists</a> note that in order to attract a targeted demographic, cable news media relied on hyperpartisan reporting that framed news stories as liberal versus conservative. This approach proved viable, as subsequent studies found that television audiences preferred news outlets that confirmed <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/2018/05/15/fake-news-social-media-confirmation-bias-echo-chambers/533857002/">their political views</a> and attacked <a href="https://www.livescience.com/3640-people-choose-news-fits-views.html">their political rivals</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-165X.2009.tb01921.x">Liberal outlets</a> focused on <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520347878/the-anatomy-of-fake-news">confirming liberals’</a> <a href="https://www.orbooks.com/catalog/hate-inc/">views</a> by introducing <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/chris-hedges/empire-of-illusion/9780786749553/?lens=bold-type-books">caricatures</a> of conservatives who could be easily villainized. The inverse was true at conservative outlets.</p>
<p>By 2021, in my view, the unintended result of such partisan programming was that audiences perceived that the <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/17/poll-we-have-met-the-enemy-and-it-is-us-459948">No. 1</a> threat to their lives was other Americans.</p>
<h2>Carlson’s duplicity</h2>
<p>In this cable news environment, Carlson started working at <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/24/business/media/tucker-carlson-career-history.html">CNN</a> in 2000, moved to <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8049787#.W6cJZVInaRs">MSNBC</a> in 2005 and arrived at Fox News Channel in 2009, where he became a megastar with his own program, “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” in 2016. </p>
<p>Whether it was accurate or not, “Tucker Carlson Tonight” provided far-right ideological content that drew an average of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/tucker-carlsons-exit-fox-news-may-be-ratings-bane-advertising-boon-2023-04-25/">3 million nightly viewers</a>, and Carlson became the highest-rated personality in cable news media. </p>
<p>Among Carlson’s falsehoods were that <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/dec/18/tucker-carlson/carlson-falsely-claims-immigrants-are-dirtying-pot/">immigrants were mostly</a> responsible for polluting a U.S. river; that the <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2017/aug/17/tucker-carlson/tucker-carlson-wrongly-says-united-states-ended-sl/">U.S. ended slavery</a> around the world; and that <a href="https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2014/aug/15/tucker-carlson/carlson-guns-dont-kill-people-bathtubs-do/">more children died</a> from drowning in their bathtub than accidentally from guns.</p>
<p>Whether he actually believed any of those falsehoods remains unknown. </p>
<p>What is known is that Carlson did not personally believe Donald Trump’s claims that he won the 2020 presidential election – and yet he publicly echoed rather than challenged Trump’s baseless assertions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A billboard shows an image of a white man wearing a necktie next to his words that read I hate Trump passionately." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523855/original/file-20230502-1802-jpfgdm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An image of former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson and his view of Donald Trump are displayed on a billboard in West Palm Beach, Fla.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/billboard-put-up-by-progressive-activist-group-moveon-that-news-photo/1479574560?adppopup=true">Alex Wong/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trump-5d6aed4bc7eb1f7a01702ebea86f37a1">In a text message</a> to Sidney Powell, one of Trump’s most ardent lawyers, Carlson wrote:</p>
<p>“You keep telling our viewers that millions of votes were changed by the software. I hope you will prove that very soon. You’ve convinced them that Trump will win. If you don’t have conclusive evidence of fraud at that scale, it’s a cruel and reckless thing to keep saying.” </p>
<p>But in a text message to his Fox News colleagues, Carlson was less hopeful:</p>
<p>“<a href="https://apnews.com/article/tucker-carlson-fox-news-dominion-lawsuit-trump-5d6aed4bc7eb1f7a01702ebea86f37a1">Sidney Powell is lying</a>,” he wrote. </p>
<p>At the time, nearly 70% of <a href="https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2022/70-percent-republicans-falsely-believe-stolen-election-trump/">Tucker’s target audience</a> believed that the election was stolen. </p>
<p>As a result, despite knowing the 2020 election was not stolen, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/03/07/tucker-carlson-doubles-down-on-2020-election-fraud-claims-with-jan-6-footage-despite-fox-defamation-lawsuit/?sh=8679b345e75e">Carlson continued to report</a> the exact opposite of what he knew to be false.</p>
<h2>A boorish Lemon</h2>
<p>In stark contrast to Carlson, Lemon positioned himself as CNN’s chief <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzZGuFJTs1I">liberal scolder</a> of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLctkkxEDTs">Trump era</a>. </p>
<p>Much like Carlson, Lemon manipulated evidence to create stories that confirmed liberal biases against conservative media personalities, such as falsely reporting that <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3664744-hurricane-expert-brushes-off-don-lemon-climate-change-question-i-want-to-talk-about-the-here-and-now/">Hurricane Ian</a>’s size was a result of climate change; that President Joe Biden “<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/cnn-don-lemon-partisan-biden-false-comments">misspoke</a>” rather than lied (which other <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/03/30/biden-falsely-claims-new-georgia-law-ends-voting-hours-early/">news outlets</a> claimed was the case) about Georgia’s voting procedures; that it is plausible that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared into <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpVd7k1Uw6A">black hole</a>; and that <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-don-lemon-cnn-ivermectin-sanjay-gupta-lying-1639240">CNN</a>’s <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/now/joe-rogan-considers-suing-cnn-190606533.html">reporting</a> on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3043740/#:%7E:text=Discovered%2520in%2520the%2520late%252D1970s,of%2520billions%2520of%2520people%2520throughout">ivermectin</a> and popular podcaster Joe Rogan was <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/joe-rogan-don-lemon-cnn-ivermectin-sanjay-gupta-lying-1639240">accurate</a>.</p>
<p>CNN’s support for Lemon began to wane after a CNN broadcast on Feb. 16, 2023, when he declared that Haley was “past her prime.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman stands on a stage holding a microphone surrounded by people sitting on chairs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/523859/original/file-20230502-16-k2bgvw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley speaks at a town hall event in New Hampshire on April 26, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-candidate-and-former-u-n-ambassador-news-photo/1485559320?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Feeling the disdain from his two female co-hosts, whom he had a long history of <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11716895/CNNs-Don-Lemon-seen-talking-host-ignoring-air-tension-builds-show.html">berating on and off camera</a>, <a href="https://msmagazine.com/2023/02/17/don-lemon-sexist-cnn/">Lemon clarified</a>: “That’s not according to me. … If you Google ‘when is a woman in her prime,’ it’ll say ‘20s, 30s and 40s.’” </p>
<p>Lemon was removed from the air so he could attend <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABG4fZSfIQQ">sensitivity trainings</a> to address his sexist attitudes. </p>
<p>An April 2023 <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/cnn-don-lemon-misogyny-history-nikki-haley-1235574286/">report from Variety</a> appeared to spell the end for Lemon on CNN. The report detailed other incidents of Lemon’s misogyny that included malicious texts, sexist mocking and vicious tirades aimed at <a href="https://tvline.com/2023/04/05/don-lemon-soledad-obrien-feud-cnn-controversy/">female co-workers</a>. </p>
<p>According to the report, <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/cnn-don-lemon-misogyny-history-nikki-haley-1235574286/">Lemon was accused</a> of threatening several female co-workers because they were hired for positions he felt he deserved. </p>
<p>In another incident, Lemon claimed during a 2008 editorial call with roughly 30 staffers that <a href="https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/cnn-don-lemon-misogyny-history-nikki-haley-1235574286/">Soledad O'Brien</a> should not host “Black in America” because she is not Black. O'Brien identifies as Afro-Cuban.</p>
<h2>Credibility gap</h2>
<p>In this age of hyperpartisanship, the revelations about Carlson and Lemon made it difficult for their networks to sell them as authentic ideological voices.</p>
<p>Furthermore, both of these individuals were a hassle for management. </p>
<p>At CNN, audience size for the show on which Lemon was co-host was shrinking for quite some time -– much like that for <a href="https://theconversation.com/cnn-was-just-the-latest-failed-attempt-of-the-cable-news-trailblazer-to-remain-relevant-182195">the network</a> in general. </p>
<p>At Fox News, Carlson’s texts revealed his disdain for the network’s <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/04/tucker-carlson-fired-after-calling-fox-news-exec-the-c-word.html">leadership</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/01/tucker-carlson-fox-nation-streaming-service">streaming platform</a>. Furthermore, since 2021, major companies such as Disney, Papa John’s, Poshmark and T-Mobile had refused to advertise on Carlson’s program.</p>
<p>Although a <a href="https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/articles-reports/2023/04/28/american-approval-tucker-carlson-fired-fox-news">YouGov poll</a> found that viewers who cite Fox News as the cable news network they watch most often are more likely to disapprove – 50% – than approve – 29% – of Carlson being fired, Fox News Channel had good reason to believe it could replace Tucker and still find success with conservative audiences. </p>
<p>For one, an <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/most-arent-familiar-tucker-carlson-don-lemon-exits">Ipsos poll</a> found that non-Fox News Channel viewers are more likely to consider the channel as a news source now that Carlson has been fired. This means that the absence of Carlson may attract more audiences. </p>
<p>Furthermore, Fox News Channel has developed a formula for creating and replacing conservative personalities for decades, such as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2011/04/06/135181398/glenn-beck-to-leave-daily-fox-news-show">Glenn Beck</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/business/media/bill-oreilly-fox-news-allegations.html">Bill O'Reilly</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-america-ap-top-news-entertainment-megyn-kelly-business-a84a7250b109411591ed6b976be800a0">Megyn Kelly</a>.</p>
<p>Rather than celebrate the removal of Lemon and Carlson, audiences should be questioning what truths have some of the current on-air personalities had to sacrifice in order to stay employed. </p>
<p>For cable news personalities, partisanship – not journalism – can be a job requirement.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204492/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nolan Higdon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since the 1980s, cable news networks have focused on hyperpartisan news coverage to attract core audiences in an increasingly fragmented media market.Nolan Higdon, Lecturer of History and Media Studies, California State University, East BayLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1730572021-12-05T16:49:21Z2021-12-05T16:49:21ZHow dual loyalties created an ethics problem for Chris Cuomo and CNN<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435698/original/file-20211205-15-1cmfn4t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2986%2C2097&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, left, and his brother, former CNN anchor, Chris Cuomo.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CuomoSexualHarassment/cb27280f4784432abd15d6afc3a44b22/photo?Query=Chris%20Cuomo&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=280&currentItemNo=3">(Mike Groll/Office of Governor of Andrew M. Cuomo via AP, left, and Evan Agostini/Invision/AP</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>CNN anchor Chris Cuomo <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/03/so-now-chris-cuomo-cant-cover-brother-andrew-cuomo-for-cnn">conceded</a> in March, 2021 that he could not, ethically, cover the sexual harassment allegations against his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The family ties were simply too strong for him to do so independently. </p>
<p>But afterwards, Chris provided behind-the-scenes counsel to his brother and his brother’s team. By August, 2021, when Andrew <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Resignation_of_Andrew_Cuomo,_2021">resigned</a> in the wake of the scandal, there were <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/biden-calls-andrew-cuomo-resign-he-s-not-only-cuomo-n1275856">calls</a> for Chris to step down from his job as well because the New York attorney general’s initial report <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1422593799419801603">revealed</a> that he had helped draft a statement for his brother in February. As the adage has it, no one can serve two masters. The CNN anchor who should have been serving the public was secretly putting family loyalty first by helping his brother navigate a political and public relations disaster.</p>
<p>And now CNN has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/04/business/media/chris-cuomo-fired-cnn.html">fired</a> Cuomo. The firing happened on Dec. 4, less than a week after the attorney general’s office <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2021/additional-transcripts-exhibits-and-videos-independent-investigation-sexual">released</a> pages of transcripts, exhibits and videos from its investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Andrew Cuomo. The documents detailed the extensive help Chris Cuomo had been providing to his brother for months. </p>
<p>Viewers of CNN would have known about the cozy familial relationship between the two. In 2020, when Andrew Cuomo was still governor of New York, Chris teamed up with his brother to banter on the cable network about how the state was handling the pandemic. The segments were <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/567288-a-look-back-at-the-rise-and-spectacular-fall-of-the-cuomo-brothers">wildly popular</a>. </p>
<p>Although they <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/cnns-cuomo-no-no/612103/">raised eyebrows</a> in media ethics circles because Chris Cuomo appeared to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/business/media/brothers-cuomo-andrew-chris.html">violating</a> fundamental norms of journalistic independence. CNN <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/01/chris-cuomo-cnn-routine-brother-undermined-network">justified</a> its exception to a conflict of interest rule imposed since 2013 prohibiting the anchor from covering his brother, stating, “Chris speaking with his brother about the challenges of what millions of American families were struggling with was of significant human interest.” </p>
<p>And, incidentally, the banter was <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-08-03/chris-cuomo-hosts-his-cnn-show-but-is-silent-on-sex-harassment-charges-against-his-brother">great for ratings</a>. But the sexual harassment scandal that erupted in late 2020 put an end to all that.</p>
<p>But it did not end the behind-the-scenes conflict. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chris Cuomo on a city sidewalk, talking into a microphone for a news report." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435699/original/file-20211205-15-u24iuw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chris Cuomo during on air report in front of the Time Warner Building, where police removed an explosive device Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, in New York.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/CuomoSexualHarassment/d607956508e848458c5685d8dcb95e89/photo?Query=CNN%20Chris%20Cuomo&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=92&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Kevin Hagen</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Public interest above self-interest</h2>
<p>As Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel – former journalists and now ethics scholars and media watchdogs – have <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/elements-journalism/">written</a>, “[Journalists] must strive to put the public interest – and the truth – above their own self-interest or assumptions.”</p>
<p>Journalists’ fundamental role in democracy is to <a href="https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp">hold those in power, especially those in government, accountable</a>. But if they have close relationships with those in power, their independence, or at least the perception of it, can be compromised. <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/elements-journalism/">Independence coupled with accountability and transparency underpin the public’s trust</a> in journalists. </p>
<p>But goodwill towards Chris Cuomo, who the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/08/13/cuomo-cnn-return/">reported</a> was “known for his intense loyalty to the network, its employees and their families,” along with the <a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/us/cnn-s-cuomo-dilemma-a-star-anchor-with-a-brother-in-trouble-1.4640489">unwavering support</a> of CNN President Jeff Zucker, helped Cuomo keep his job. </p>
<p>He stayed in it until the Nov. 29 document dump disclosed just how closely the CNN anchor had helped his brother Andrew’s team frame and mount a defense to the accusations. Among the offers Chris made: he would <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/chris-cuomo-offered-his-sources-learn-if-more-women-would-accuse-brother-harassment-1654108">work his own journalistic sources</a> to investigate the credibility of the women who alleged harassment or assault.</p>
<p>At that point, CNN <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/business/media/chris-cuomo-suspended-cnn.html">suspended</a> Cuomo “indefinitely.”</p>
<p>“When Chris admitted to us that he had offered advice to his brother’s staff, he broke our rules and we acknowledged that publicly,” CNN said in a <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/media/583693-cnn-suspends-chris-cuomo-indefinitely">statement</a>. “But we also appreciated the unique position he was in and understood his need to put family first and job second.”</p>
<p>Cuomo’s firing followed four days later.</p>
<h2>‘Accountable and transparent’</h2>
<p>Was it ethical for the anchor to continue to advise his brother while representing to his viewers that he was keeping his relationship at arm’s length? Should he even have participated in what a Donald Trump campaign spokesman called “<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2021/02/19/cnns-chris-cuomo-can-no-longer-interview-brother-gov-andrew-cuomo/4504315001/">the Cuomo Brothers Comedy Hour</a>” at the beginning of the pandemic?</p>
<p>Journalists’ associations have developed ethical codes and guidelines that address this situation. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://www.spj.org/spjhistory.asp">oldest</a> and best known is the <a href="https://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp">Code of Ethics</a> of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). <a href="https://www.npr.org/ethics">News organizations</a> also have their own ethics rules and <a href="https://cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct/">post them</a> online so that the public can read them. Television networks frequently assign ethics enforcement to their “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140111003232/http://www.museum.tv/eotv/standardsand.htm">Standards and Practices</a>” departments. </p>
<p>These codes set out the ethical standards for a news operation.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics, printed on one page." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435701/original/file-20211205-15-ab3741.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=975&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, which says ‘An ethical journalist acts with integrity.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.spj.org/pdf/spj-code-of-ethics.pdf">Society of Professional Journalists</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the word “code” is a misnomer. Although news organizations are free to enforce their provisions on their own staff, they are not intended to create <a href="https://cpj.org/2021/08/algeria-revokes-accreditation-of-saudi-channel-al-arabiya-over-allegedly-spreading-misinformation/">legal obligations</a> to anyone else, as with licensed professions such as <a href="https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/2011-12_disc_agency_directory.pdf">law</a> and <a href="https://www.fsmb.org/contact-a-state-medical-board">medicine</a>. The SPJ Code is explicit about this, emphasizing that its code is “not, nor can it be under the First Amendment, legally enforceable.” </p>
<p>It does, however, emphasize that conflicts of interest must be avoided, or at the very least, disclosed, to maintain independence and transparency. </p>
<p>CNN has acknowledged that Chris Cuomo “broke our rules.” But the rules aren’t posted on CNN’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/">website</a>. In fact, CNN has fought to keep them <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2018/05/07/cnn-fights-to-keep-internal-editorial-guidelines-under-wraps-why/">secret</a>. </p>
<p>In August, the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/08/13/cuomo-cnn-return/">quoted</a> from a leaked copy of the network’s “News Standards & Practices Policy Guide,” reporting that “the document mandates that ‘CNN employees should avoid any real obligation or appearance of any obligation to any interest that he/she may be covering or reporting on,’ and ‘should avoid conflicts between personal interests and the interest of the company or even the appearance of such conflicts.’” </p>
<p>That sounds about right, but did CNN enforce those rules with Chris Cuomo? How could the anchor avoid conflicts of interest while pitching softball questions to his brother during the pandemic, much less by providing behind-the-scenes advice on how to deal with the sexual harassment scandal? </p>
<p>Many <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-arts-and-entertainment-new-york-andrew-cuomo-chris-cuomo-ec26694560241c5bc8c1f31a362bb29d">media commentators</a> say that he couldn’t, and now, CNN seems to agree.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A middle-aged woman in white shirt, black sweater and with light brown hair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/435702/original/file-20211205-19-18m421a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Media columnist Margaret Sullivan said of Cuomo, ‘You don’t abuse your position in journalism…for personal or familial gain.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/margaret-sullivan-media-columnist-the-washington-post-via-news-photo/1206570662?adppopup=true">Eric Hanson for The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fool me once</h2>
<p>Was it unrealistic to expect the Cuomo brothers not to confer in times of crisis? Some news consumers think so, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/business/media/chris-cuomo-suspended-cnn.html">reader comments</a> on a Nov. 30 New York Times story contended: “One of the biggest draws to CNN is Chris Cuomo & his personalized brotherly banter & friendship with Don Lemon. He reflects what’s right in America. Family & Loyalty.”</p>
<p>Those readers are right that it is a question of loyalty. But they are answering the question differently than many journalists would. </p>
<p>Kovach and Rosenstiel have <a href="https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/journalism-essentials/what-is-journalism/elements-journalism/">written</a> that journalists’ “first loyalty is to citizens,” and in their book <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671513/the-elements-of-journalism-revised-and-updated-4th-edition-by-bill-kovach-and-tom-rosenstiel/">The Elements of Journalism</a> call it an “implied covenant” with the audience. </p>
<p>As columnist Margaret Sullivan <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/media/chris-cuomo-journalism-ethics-sullivan/2021/12/01/eddae130-52ad-11ec-9267-17ae3bde2f26_story.html">argued</a> in the Washington Post, “You don’t abuse your position in journalism — whether at a weekly newspaper or a major network — for personal or familial gain.” </p>
<p>Conflicts of interest violate that covenant and undermine public confidence in media independence. Some conflicts of interest are such a problem that no amount of disclosure or disclaimers can cure them. CNN has apparently <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/04/media/cnn-fires-chris-cuomo/index.html">concluded</a> that Chris Cuomo’s is one of them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane E Kirtley serves on the board of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Foundation, and was a member of the SPJ National Ethics Committee for several years. She reviewed Minnesota Public Radio's News Ethics Guidelines <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/ethics">https://www.mprnews.org/ethics</a> prior to adoption, and has written book chapters and articles on media ethics for a variety of publications. She is co-author of a textbook, Media Ethics Today: Issues, Analysis, Solutions (Cognella 2016).</span></em></p>A journalist’s role is to serve the public interest. But CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, by helping his brother, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a scandal, put personal interests above the public’s.Jane E. Kirtley, Silha Professor of Media Ethics and Law, University of MinnesotaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1657962021-09-17T12:10:21Z2021-09-17T12:10:21ZAndrew Cuomo’s initial refusal to resign echoes executive harassment dilemmas for employers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421431/original/file-20210915-28-1kovc1l.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=37%2C28%2C6253%2C4159&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo stubbornly fought sexual harassment charges, as many executives do in business.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-call-on-new-york-gov-andrew-cuomo-to-resign-news-photo/1231480530?adppopup=true">Scott Heins/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2021/08/03/biden-calls-for-cuomo-to-resign-after-bombshell-report-details-pattern-of-sexual-harassment/?sh=5b8d4f1b3ff4">President Joe Biden</a> and many <a href="https://dailyorange.com/2021/08/ny-leaders-governor-andrew-cuomo-resign-sexual-harassment-report/">other public leaders</a> called for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign after an official <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">report</a> in August concluded that Cuomo had “engaged in conduct constituting sexual harassment under federal and state law.”</p>
<p>Even before the <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">report</a> was released, many New York politicians had called for Cuomo to resign after a growing number of women alleged the governor had engaged in “<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/everyone-calling-for-cuomo-resign.html">inappropriate touching and comments.</a>” </p>
<p>Cuomo ignored those calls and challenged the charges. But after facing <a href="https://wbng.com/2021/08/09/judiciary-committee-sets-deadline-for-cuomo-legal-team-to-give-evidence/">possible impeachment proceedings by the New York Assembly</a>, he decided on Aug. 10, 2021, to resign from his position. His resignation became effective 14 days later.</p>
<p>From my <a href="https://works.bepress.com/michael_z_green/178/">research as a workplace law scholar</a>, I have found a number of executives who, like Cuomo, have attempted to defend their actions as mere misunderstandings after being charged with complaints of sexual misconduct or harassment.</p>
<p>Cuomo’s challenge of the charges against him – which he carried out over many months – is one more example of the difficult prospects organizations face when one of their top executives is charged with scandalous and harassing behavior, but decides to contest those allegations. </p>
<p>As an investigation proceeds, an executive’s alleged misdeeds can hurt companies’ reputations and internal workings and lead to <a href="https://theconversation.com/metoo-movement-finds-an-unlikely-champion-in-wall-street-with-the-new-weinstein-clause-100938">significant devaluing of stock or even bankruptcy</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="McDonald's golden arches sign in New York City." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421432/original/file-20210915-21-14vaapc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">McDonald’s fired CEO Steve Easterbrook after he engaged in a consensual relationship with an employee that violated company policy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-mcdonalds-logo-is-displayed-on-a-restaurant-following-news-photo/1179909312?adppopup=true">Kena Betancur/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>CEOs face #MeToo</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/05/20/725108825/top-reason-for-ceo-departures-among-largest-companies-is-now-misconduct-study-fi">“Scores of CEOs were knocked down after allegations of sexual misconduct in 2018,”</a> reported NPR. The <a href="https://metoomvmt.org/">#MeToo movement’s</a> efforts to uncover executive harassment also contributed in part to the departure of high-ranking executives who were among <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2020-01-08/metoo-contributes-to-2019s-staggering-ceo-departures">the more than 1,600 business leaders</a> who left their jobs in 2019, according to U.S. News & World Report. Most of these 2019 departures included resignations, retirements and terminations due to routine business changes. Some of the specific exits were due to alleged wrongdoing of corporate leaders, including 20 departures after business scandals, 15 following allegations of professional misconduct and three <a href="https://35e5308vr2q35dq3y1cuvrbs-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Dec19-CEO-Report.pdf">specific instances of sexual misconduct</a>. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/04/19/anticipating-harassment-metoo-and-the-changing-norms-of-executive-contracts/">analysis of CEO executive employment agreements</a> demonstrates how organizations may suffer when their leaders exit. </p>
<p>The study’s researchers say that “CEOs are protected by written contracts that … limit the companies’ ability to terminate CEOs without paying significant severance pay. These provisions typically contain a handful of narrowly drafted grounds on which a company can fire a CEO ‘for cause’ (thereby avoiding financial liability),” but those grounds rarely include sex-based misconduct.</p>
<p>In the face of such damaging charges, executives may legitimately want to protect their reputations by fighting to deny the validity of the charges. Or they may want to exit with financial benefits in place – even while pressure mounts on the organization to terminate the executive.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/04/19/anticipating-harassment-metoo-and-the-changing-norms-of-executive-contracts/">empirical study’s authors</a> found that companies have responded to the #MeToo movement by adding language into contracts to allow them to fire executives immediately without waiting for an investigation to be completed when related to sex-based misconduct.</p>
<h2>New rules</h2>
<p>Companies have also started to strengthen their policies to prohibit even consensual sexual behavior between a subordinate and an executive. These actions recognize the power differentials that muddle the question of consent in such relationships.</p>
<p>As an example of these company policy changes, McDonald’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/business/mcdonalds-ceo-fired-steve-easterbrook.html">terminated its CEO</a> in 2019 after discovering his consensual relationship with a subordinate. His actions violated a newly developed policy. The CEO agreed with the board’s termination decision and acknowledged that he had exercised “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/03/business/mcdonalds-ceo-fired-steve-easterbrook.html">poor judgment</a>.” </p>
<p>McDonald’s gave the CEO stock options and other payouts of up to an estimated $40 million at the time of termination. After later discovering emails allegedly reflecting additional sexual misconduct with subordinates, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/mcdonalds-sues-to-recover-severance-from-fired-ceo-claiming-he-lied-about-affairs-with-employees-11597064924">McDonald’s sued the CEO seeking return of the payouts due to claims of fraud</a> and concealment of information. </p>
<h2>Prolonging the harm</h2>
<p>Because <a href="https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/mcdonalds-ceo-fired/">an organization’s brand</a> can be severely damaged by the misconduct of its executive, organizations do not want to prolong the harm in situations in which the executive stays in the position and attempts to deny and challenge the charges. </p>
<p>Once the executive admits to, or cannot deny, some of the behavior, but still wants to contest the charges as being a misunderstanding, as in Cuomo’s case, employers have to decide whether to face the costs incurred by a long investigation versus the costs of a premature removal of an executive. </p>
<p>In the McDonald’s situation, quickly removing the CEO rather than conducting a long investigation prevented the company from damaging its reputation. </p>
<p>But discovering additional misconduct only afterward that may have justified firing the CEO without any compensation was costly. On the other hand, if an investigation ends up vindicating the executive, the company may have to pay the executive for any harm created by rushing to judgment in deciding to terminate.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The entrance to New York City's Eataly food market." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421434/original/file-20210915-24-u1fwmh.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Famed chef Mario Batali gave up his restaurants and his stake in Eataly Markets a year after multiple sexual harassment allegations surfaced against him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/customers-exit-eataly-a-50-000-square-foot-emporium-devoted-news-photo/1128860766?adppopup=true">Drew Angerer/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h1>Tainted interactions</h1>
<p>Legal scholar Charlotte Alexander has <a href="https://theconversation.com/power-imbalances-are-at-the-root-of-sexual-harassment-but-statements-like-andrew-cuomos-dont-acknowledge-that-inconvenient-fact-158401">explained</a> how an alleged harasser with significant power over subordinates such as Cuomo should look at his behavior from the perspective of the subordinate – not what the powerful harasser thought he was doing. </p>
<p>Instead, Cuomo spent months continuing to deny any wrongdoing. He forced a costly investigation to be undertaken by the state instead of acknowledging that some of his behavior might be viewed differently from the perspective of the subordinates involved, as he did when he <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/10/nyregion/cuomo-resignation-speech-transcript.html">gave his resignation</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://works.bepress.com/michael_z_green/178/">In my research</a>, I found many executives want the chance to defend themselves against the accusations. They try to circumvent any organizational concerns. This approach might work when a powerful executive is initially charged and the inappropriate behavior has not become widespread. </p>
<p>But Cuomo’s story and similar stories of executives I studied show a pattern of behavior involving many women that taints interactions with all other current and future subordinates. Those tainted interactions include perceptions of favoritism whenever an executive with a history of misconduct offers any form of benefits or work privileges to a co-worker. Staff can be hesitant to get involved in necessary mentoring relationships out of a fear that misconduct by the executive might ensue.</p>
<p>With #MeToo expectations changing the dynamics, a major takeaway from the Cuomo situation is that employers, whether in the private or public sector, may need to establish more immediate procedures to remove executives to prevent workplace harms. The <a href="https://www.wgrz.com/article/news/local/new-york-state-assembly-impeachment-investigation-costs-into-governor-cuomo-are-capped/71-9b25355e-e8f1-4e26-b8da-abf2953410ad">costly</a> Cuomo investigation further demonstrates this point, even though it involved the Legislature’s procedures for impeachment of a government official.</p>
<p>Employers may need to respond more quickly when an executive admittedly engages in misconduct with subordinates that affects the overall organization – even if the executive does not resign immediately or believes no misconduct occurred.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-important">Get The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a>.</em>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165796/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Z. Green does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>CEOs in private industry who have been accused of sexual harassment can cost their companies if they do as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did and fight the charges.Michael Z. Green, Professor of Law and Director, Workplace Law Program, Texas A&M UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1659302021-08-10T19:45:11Z2021-08-10T19:45:11ZComplicity and silence around sexual harassment are common – Cuomo and his protectors were a textbook example<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415525/original/file-20210810-13-1hwt71q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C28%2C6240%2C4119&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, seen here in July 2021, announced on Aug. 10, 2021, that he would resign amid a sexual harassment scandal. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-declares-a-state-of-news-photo/1327337778?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>New York Gov. <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2021/08/10/andrew-cuomo-resigns-1389566">Andrew Cuomo’s resignation</a> came after more than a week of bad news, starting with a <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">damning report from the state attorney general’s office</a> that detailed his sexual harassment of 11 women, some of whom worked in his office. An executive assistant to Cuomo, Brittany Commisso, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/08/08/cuomo-accuser-breaks-silence/">filed a criminal complaint against him</a> with the Albany County sheriff’s office. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cuomo-harassment-investigation-impeachment-26edc9cf16cd378cc3573ed85613e797">The state Legislature readied impeachment proceedings</a>. </p>
<p>Then, top aide <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/08/nyregion/melissa-derosa-resign-cuomo.html">Melissa DeRosa resigned</a> amid a flurry of questions surrounding her role in protecting Cuomo. Attorney <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/09/nyregion/roberta-kaplan-times-up-cuomo.html">Roberta Kaplan also resigned from the #MeToo advocacy organization Time’s Up</a> after the <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">attorney general’s report</a> revealed that she helped draft a letter that denied Cuomo’s wrongdoing.</p>
<p>As news emerged about the silence from Cuomo’s staff, who had long protected him, and his victims who feared blowback, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2EpL_t4AAAAJ&hl=th">our</a> <a href="http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JyWA_U4AAAAJ&hl=en">thoughts</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=JpUGQ_UAAAAJ&hl=en">turned</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=DVdnX5wAAAAJ&hl=en">immediately</a> to our research on harassers. </p>
<p>“<a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000861">See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil</a>” is the title of our new article for the Journal of Applied Psychology, which describes the role witnesses play in helping and protecting harassers. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1077801220975495">Evidence suggests</a> that, rather than helping victims, witnesses often protect the harasser. </p>
<p>The report on Cuomo’s sexual harassment is replete with examples that showcase how members of Cuomo’s top staff, known collectively as the “Executive Chamber,” silenced victims. One victim explained in the report: “I was terrified that if I shared what was going on that it would somehow get around … and if senior aides Stephanie Benton or Melissa DeRosa heard that, I was going to lose my job.”</p>
<p>Although #MeToo gave voice to millions of women to speak up about sexual harassment, <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012420-055606">it remains rare for victims to report</a> sexual harassment to employers. They are <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/15/16438750/weinstein-sexual-harassment-facts">afraid of blowback</a>. They think management won’t believe them. They fear being blamed or shamed. And these fears are warranted. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aXiKXeKPO50?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Cuomo aide Brittany Commisso spoke to CBS News and the Albany Times Union on Aug. 9, 2021, about the governor’s alleged sexual assault.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Silent complicity</h2>
<p><a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F1076-8998.8.4.247">Research shows</a> that reporting mechanisms rarely work and often backfire. </p>
<p>For example, employees who speak up about workplace harassment <a href="https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/10/15/16438750/weinstein-sexual-harassment-facts">frequently face retaliation</a>, both personal and professional. This is evident in multiple victim accounts in the Cuomo investigation. </p>
<p>One victim was quoted in the report saying that “she did not feel she could safely report or rebuff the conduct because, based on her experience and discussion with others … it’s kind of known that the Governor gives the seal of approval who gets promoted and who doesn’t.” </p>
<p>But what about bystanders? Colleagues? Leaders? Why don’t they speak up when they see sexual harassment? </p>
<p>Part of the problem, we have found, lies with social networks – the webs of interconnections among victims, perpetrators, co-workers and managers. The way these networks are configured encourages members to be silent, silence others and not hear victims who voice concerns about sexual harassment.</p>
<p>One of Cuomo’s 11 alleged victims, a state trooper, described a conversation she had with Cuomo while driving him to an event. The governor questioned her clothing choices, asking why she wasn’t wearing a dress. After the conversation, the victim’s state police superior, who was in the car during the interaction, messaged her, saying that the conversation “stays in the truck.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="DeRosa in a red dress sits with arms crossed and a stern, unhappy look on her face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415527/original/file-20210810-23-1g1a1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cuomo staffer Melissa DeRosa stood by Cuomo after sexual harassment allegations against him first came out. She resigned two days before Cuomo announced his resignation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/melissa-derosa-secretary-to-governor-attends-andrew-cuomo-news-photo/1228483473?adppopup=true">Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>‘Textbook example’</h2>
<p>Why do people protect harassers? A number of factors are at play.</p>
<p>First, a harasser can establish a central status by having <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2657354">many strong ties</a> to others in the network. Strong relationships within a tie require an investment of time and resources on both sides, and in turn, they yield loyalty and reciprocity. So network members close to the harasser are more likely to stay silent about his misdeeds, and to silence or manipulate those who speak up into questioning their sanity.</p>
<p>Also, when the harasser is the sole link between disconnected members of the network, he can isolate victims, control information and conceal wrongdoing. The result of all this: Victims, witnesses and would-be supporters stay silent. </p>
<p>In the case of Cuomo, he had many loyal ties. The attorney general’s report states that the Executive Chamber had “an intense and overriding focus on secrecy and loyalty that meant that any and all perceived acts of ‘disloyalty,’ including criticism of the Governor [Cuomo] or his senior staff, would be met with attacks of a personal and professional nature.”</p>
<p>The second reason people protect male sexual harassers lies in how certain network beliefs prize men and masculinity. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12289">These</a> beliefs normalize male dominance over women, encouraging support for those who enact displays of masculine superiority. </p>
<p>When these beliefs pervade a social network, and central men sexually harass women, network members stay silent. They also rally to defend and protect harassers by silencing and not hearing those who speak up.</p>
<p>Because women are devalued in these networks, powerful witnesses have little motive to hear sexual harassment complaints or take action to support female victims. The investigation into Cuomo’s conduct concluded: “This culture of fear, intimidation, and retribution co-existed in the Executive Chamber with one that accepted and normalized everyday flirtations and gender-based comments by the Governor.”</p>
<p>Finally, mythologies about sexual harassment are frequently found in social networks such as the one that surrounded Cuomo. <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11199-007-9367-1.pdf">These common myths</a> deny that sexual harassment has happened, often by questioning women’s complaints – for example, suggesting that false allegations are common. Or they downplay the gravity of these offenses. </p>
<p>When harassment becomes undeniable, myths lead network members to move on to justify it: absolving harassers of responsibility or blaming victims – asking what women did to invite sexual advances. </p>
<p>Myths such as these silence network members because speaking up is likely to be futile or even dangerous. Throughout the report, senior staff members in Cuomo’s office denied wrongdoing by Cuomo. One victim, Ana Liss, testified that Cuomo had held her hand, kissed her cheek and been flirtatious. She did not want to report it because “the environment in the Executive Chamber deterred her … she was fully expecting the Governor’s team would deny, deny, deny, character assassinate.”</p>
<p>It is rare that scholarly research and current events so perfectly reflect each other. But the Cuomo case is – no metaphor here – a textbook example of a network of complicity and silence around sexual harassment.</p>
<p>[<em>The Conversation’s Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-need-to-know">Sign up for Politics Weekly</a>._]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:sandy.hershcovis@haskayne.ucalgary.ca">sandy.hershcovis@haskayne.ucalgary.ca</a> receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ivana Vranjes, Jennifer L. Berdahl, and Lilia M. Cortina do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Four scholars who study the role witnesses play in helping and protecting harassers say the role played by many in Cuomo’s office fit a pattern of silence, complicity and intimidation.Sandy Hershcovis, Professor at Haskayne School of Business, University of CalgaryIvana Vranjes, Assistant Professor of Social Psychology, Tilburg UniversityJennifer L. Berdahl, Professor of Sociology, University of British ColumbiaLilia M. Cortina, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Psychology, Women's & Gender Studies, and Management & Organizations, University of MichiganLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1657862021-08-06T19:52:15Z2021-08-06T19:52:15ZWhy Andrew Cuomo’s job is more vulnerable to scandal than Donald Trump’s was<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415036/original/file-20210806-15-13zk4r1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3943%2C2620&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a press conference in June, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-holds-a-event-to-announce-news-photo/1233470459?adppopup=true">Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Riding high in politics frequently means you simply have further to fall – just ask sitting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.</p>
<p>Cuomo went from being talked about as a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/31/politics/andrew-cuomo-2024-2028-president/index.html">potential presidential candidate</a> in the spring of 2020 – thanks in large part to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/24/opinions/thank-god-for-andrew-cuomo-filipovic/index.html">his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York state</a> – to media ridicule and possible <a href="https://www.thecity.nyc/2021/8/4/22610263/cuomo-how-to-impeach-a-governor">state senate impeachment</a> now, due to allegations of repeated sexual harassment occurring over several years.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3816">Quinnipiac University Poll</a>, Cuomo’s job approval rating among registered voters in New York fell 44 percentage points between May 2020 and August 2021 – to just 28% in a newly released poll, his lowest recorded rating since taking office in 2011.</p>
<p>New York Attorney General Letitia James <a href="https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021.08.03_nyag_-_investigative_report.pdf">issued a report</a> on August 3, 2021 finding that Cuomo’s behavior runs afoul of state and federal definitions of sexual harassment. That likely bodes further erosion of his support and may provide the final blow.</p>
<p>Despite the loss of public approval, the pillorying by the press, and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/03/politics/andrew-cuomo-democrats-reaction-report/index.html">abandonment by most of his political allies</a>, Cuomo is behaving as though he can hold onto his office, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/cuomo-how-would-impeachment-work-a112f846cbcf7cfad6e72574670105ed">rejecting the charges and excusing his behavior by claiming he’s just a warm kind of guy</a>. He seems to be betting that he is personally stronger than this scandal, a ploy he may have learned from former President Donald Trump. </p>
<p>The nation watched in awe as Trump survived scandal after scandal, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/14/politics/trump-women-accusers/index.html">including those of a sexual nature</a>, throughout his presidency and yet remained in office, seemingly untouchable. </p>
<p>With roughly 17 months left in office, the question is: Can Andrew Cuomo do the same? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crowd on the street, wearing face masks, with a woman holding a 'Resign or Impeach' sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415034/original/file-20210806-21-1v2u30v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A protest against Cuomo outside his New York City office on Aug. 4, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-participate-in-a-protest-against-n-y-governor-andrew-news-photo/1234460024?adppopup=true">Stephanie Keith/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Trouble at home</h2>
<p>Cuomo has been, and still is, following the overarching Trump playbook for dealing with scandal: if you simply deny having done anything wrong, eventually it will blow over.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=0UmsWdAAAAAJ&hl=en">As a scholar of public opinion and polling</a>, I believe that Cuomo faces three big obstacles, however, that Trump did not face: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>He is not Donald Trump, who had a cult of personality behind him that was virtually unshakeable; </p></li>
<li><p>The real force of the <a href="https://metoomvmt.org/">#MeToo movement</a> – the wave of allegations regarding sexual harassment and other forms of misconduct that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/23/us/metoo-replacements.html">brought down some powerful figures in fields like entertainment, news and politics</a> – only began in late 2017, after much of Trump’s, but before most of Cuomo’s, dirty laundry had aired; and </p></li>
<li><p>Cuomo is a Democratic officeholder, in a Democratic state, and as such is held to a higher standard by his constituency than Trump was when it comes to sexual harassment. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>In other words, Cuomo is in a more vulnerable position, he is facing a public much more attuned to women’s harassment claims, and, most importantly, his constituency is naturally predisposed to judge him harshly on this issue.</p>
<h2>Fallout on both sides</h2>
<p>Being a Democrat, and therefore relying on Democrats as a base for support, is the most difficult obstacle for Cuomo to overcome. </p>
<p>According to a national December 2019 <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/metoo-and-times-up-most-think-the-movements-are-making-progress-cbs-news-poll/">CBS News Poll</a>, 89% of Democrats say sexual harassment and misconduct is a serious problem, including 49% who say the problem is very serious. </p>
<p>Compare this to the lower 64% of Republicans who say it is serious, including only 17% who view the problem as very serious (32 percentage points lower than Democrats). </p>
<p>This means that Cuomo’s problems are not just typical partisan problems. He is facing fallout not just from the opposing party, <a href="http://maristpoll.marist.edu/marist-poll-results-analysis-governor-andrew-cuomo/#sthash.QKcOjYVf.QWFhi1Z3.dpbs">but on both sides of the aisle</a>. And for this particular behavior he is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/03/politics/andrew-cuomo-democrats-reaction-report/index.html">especially facing it on his own side</a>.</p>
<p>This special feature of his Democratic constituency accounts for the dilemma Cuomo is currently facing trying to hold onto office amid public and political outcry over his actions. </p>
<p>Cuomo has never been an angel in the eyes of New Yorkers. In April 2020, Politico ran the following headline for a story about Cuomo’s fame during the pandemic: “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/02/i-just-hope-this-thing-ends-soon-so-i-can-go-back-to-hating-andrew-cuomo-again-162215">I Just Hope This Thing Ends Soon So I Can Go Back to Hating Andrew Cuomo Again</a>.”</p>
<p>But, Democrats are not forgiving him for the sexual harassment scandal, especially after years of learning how pervasive and destructive that kind of behavior is. According to a <a href="http://maristpoll.marist.edu/marist-poll-results-analysis-governor-andrew-cuomo/#sthash.QKcOjYVf.dpbs">Marist Poll</a> conducted on the evening following Letitia James’ report release, a 52% majority of registered New York Democrats say Cuomo should resign from office. Only 41% of New York Democrats think he should serve out his term. Even non-white New York voters, a key Democratic constituency, favor Cuomo resigning by a six-percentage-point margin. While sometimes initial reactions can be tempered by time, if this drags out, which it appears likely to do, Cuomo is unlikely to recover his base.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="James, center, at a podium with two people flanking her. An American flag and New York State flag are behind them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/415031/original/file-20210806-27-19kvv9u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York Attorney General Letitia James, with investigators Anne L. Clark and Joon H. Kim, present the findings of their sexual harassment probe into Cuomo, Aug. 3, 2021, in New York City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-york-attorney-general-letitia-james-and-independent-news-photo/1234430445?adppopup=true">David Dee Delgado/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Wishful thinking vs. reality</h2>
<p>How does Cuomo think he can soldier on in the face of losing his base of support? After all, it appears if he does not resign, the state assembly and Senate, along with the members of New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-york/albany/story/2021/08/03/heres-how-impeachment-works-in-new-york-1389410">who preside with the Senate as a High Court of Impeachment</a>, will take matters into their own hands and impeach and convict him, thereby removing him from office.</p>
<p>With the Republican U.S. Senate, this was never a real threat for Trump – <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-trump-fraud-insight/why-republican-voters-say-theres-no-way-in-hell-trump-lost-idUSKBN2801D4">Republican constituents never lost their faith in Trump</a>. But if Cuomo is counting on the New York state legislature not to impeach and convict, he is not reading the poll numbers. </p>
<p>Having lost his public constituency, Cuomo has also lost support in the legislature. It is a law of politics that few sitting members would be willing to buck their own home constituents to defend a publicly unpopular executive. </p>
<p>Cuomo may, as many think Trump did, believe in his own mind that his behavior did not cross lines of unethical or illegal conduct, but the majority of New York voters and his former political allies now disagree with that.</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/politics-weekly-74/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=politics-important">Get The Conversation’s most important politics headlines, in our Politics Weekly newsletter</a></em>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monika L. McDermott is affiliated with brilliant corners Research and Strategy as a part-time consultant. </span></em></p>New Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in big trouble after an official state report documented 11 cases of sexual harassment by him. He seems to think he can survive the scandal, but a longtime pollster disagrees.Monika L. McDermott, Professor of Political Science, Fordham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1561942021-03-22T18:48:21Z2021-03-22T18:48:21ZToxic bosses should be the next to face #MeToo-type reprisals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390735/original/file-20210321-13-zzcxyg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1920%2C1281&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Toxic workplaces and abusive bosses can make our lives miserable and seriously erode our physical and mental well-being. As we return to the office following the COVID-19 pandemic, time may be up for bad bosses.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pixabay)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of us have had the misfortune of working in a <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/06/times-up-for-toxic-workplaces">toxic workplace</a>. We’ve experienced demeaning comments from a supervisor, verbal aggression, surveillance and sometimes even physical threats or intimidation. But what if these behaviours were treated as seriously as other forms of workplace misconduct? </p>
<p>In Canada, the emphasis on workers’ right to a safe and healthy workplace in the wake of former governor general <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/governor-general-payette-step-down-1.5882675">Julie Payette’s resignation</a> provides a rare opportunity to expand the definition of workplace harassment and hold toxic bosses to account — just as serial sexual abusers <a href="https://theconversation.com/metoo-in-2021-global-activists-continue-to-build-on-the-movement-against-sexual-violence-152205">have been outed and held responsible during the #MeToo movement</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Payette, in a white suit, reads the throne speech." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=783&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/389817/original/file-20210316-16-15lnf63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=984&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gov. Gen. Julie Payette delivers the throne speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa in September 2020, a few months before her resignation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is an especially opportune time to do so, given many employees could soon be heading back to the office due to COVID-19 vaccination efforts.</p>
<p>Payette resigned in January after an <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/julie-payette-workplace-report-1.5890757">independent investigation</a> revealed widespread allegations of harassment at Rideau Hall. The investigation detailed reports of physical intimidation and public humiliation, leading some employees to take medical leave or resign. </p>
<p>While this environment certainly sounds toxic, <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/wellness-inclusion-diversity-public-service/harassment-conflict-resolution/harassment-tool-employees.html#c2">the Policy on Harassment Prevention and Resolution</a> provides strict standards to determine when toxic behaviour amounts to legal harassment. A “<a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/government/publicservice/wellness-inclusion-diversity-public-service/harassment-conflict-resolution/harassment-tool-employees.html#c4">poisoned workplace environment</a>” featuring hostile and offensive behaviours only qualifies as harassment if directed at one individual or is tied to a legal basis for discrimination, including race, gender and religion. </p>
<p>Following these guidelines, the <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20465633/release-copy-27-01-21_ocr-1.pdf#page=47">independent report concluded</a> that staffers’ allegations did not meet the formal definition of harassment, despite finding that many of the alleged behaviours could have led to a toxic workplace. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dominic LeBlanc speaks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390261/original/file-20210318-21-n557lo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=514&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dominic LeBlanc speaks during a news conference in October 2020 in Ottawa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It’s striking then, that in response to Payette’s resignation, Dominic LeBlanc, the intergovernmental affairs minister who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, stressed Canadians’ “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1846937667719">right to work in a healthy, safe, harassment-free workplace</a>.” In her resignation statement, even Payette herself emphasized workers’ “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/julie-payette-full-statement-governor-general-resignation-rideau-hall-1.5882916">right to a healthy and safe work environment</a>.” </p>
<p>The framing of toxic workplace behaviours as an occupational safety issue, one that could amount to harassment, recognizes the <a href="https://journals.aom.org/doi/abs/10.5465/amr.2017.0350">psychological trauma</a> that these environments inflict. If you were required to work in a literal toxic workplace, filled with noxious gases, you would expect a gas mask. Workers who face daily dehumanizing and hostile treatment deserve similar guarantees of protection. </p>
<h2>Tough vs. toxic</h2>
<p>A quick look across the border reveals how the characterization of toxic behaviour can have significant consequences for accountability. The week Payette resigned, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar took centre stage at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, delivering opening remarks. There was no mention of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html">multiple</a> <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mollyhensleyclancy/amy-klobuchar-staff-2020-election">investigative</a> <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/amy-klobuchar-mistreat-staff-harry-reid_n_5c5db1ece4b03afe8d674530?ri18n=true">reports</a> that Klobuchar has repeatedly engaged in abusive behaviour, including throwing binders and phones at her aides. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks with her finger raised." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390263/original/file-20210318-19-1rebi5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks during the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett in October 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Samuel Corum/Pool via AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Perhaps most memorably, an allegation surfaced that Klobuchar publicly humiliated a staffer who forgot utensils for her salad, and demanded that the employee <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/us/politics/amy-klobuchar-staff.html">clean her comb after she used it as a makeshift fork</a>. </p>
<p>Klobuchar did not deny these accounts, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/amy-klobuchar-responds-staff-reports_n_5c5f9dcae4b0eec79b241d0e?ri18n=true">but insisted</a> that she is “tough” and pushes people because she has “high expectations.” </p>
<p>Others have noted the parallels between these cases and dismissed the divergent consequences for Payette’s and Klobuchar’s political careers. The difference, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/22/canada-julie-payette-governor-general-resignation/">one writer argued</a>, is that the governor general “does not actually have any important work to do.” </p>
<h2>Fear, trauma</h2>
<p>Regardless, the impact on workers remains the same: fear, humiliation and sometimes trauma. Whether someone works for an abusive supervisor at a fast-food restaurant or in the hallowed halls of Parliament, that supervisor is still responsible for their behaviour. Abuse is still abuse, and no one deserves to feel unsafe and frightened at work.</p>
<p>The conversation around toxic workplace behaviour requires <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/jobs/07preoccupations.html">an awareness of ingrained</a> <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2018/08/28/when-women-are-called-aggressive-at-work/">cultural</a> <a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/2043390907?pq-origsite=summon">stereotypes</a> that women in power are aggressive, while their male counterparts are assertive. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets a COVID-19 vaccine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/390266/original/file-20210318-19-36e4fi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks before getting a COVID-19 vaccine in New York, on March 17, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, Pool)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Women also appear to pay a higher price for toxic behaviour, while men are given the benefit of the doubt until other allegations emerge. </p>
<p>New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has been accused of <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/andrew-cuomo-misconduct-allegations.html">toxic leadership for years</a>, for example, yet he is only facing public censure and an impeachment investigation following recent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/12/nyregion/cuomo-women-toxic-workplace.html">sexual harassment allegations</a>. </p>
<p>Both Payette and Klobuchar are high-profile female leaders, and have likely been on the receiving end of gender stereotypes. But at the same time, given the scope and severity of the allegations against them, it’s clear these accounts cannot be attributed solely to bias. Confronting toxic behaviour without reinforcing misogyny will require acknowledgement and vigilance — a supervisor’s gender is no excuse to neglect workers’ well-being.</p>
<h2>Multiple fronts</h2>
<p>Toxic environments can breed and compound other forms of discriminatory harassment. Workers with intersecting identities often face multiple fronts of abuse at once.</p>
<p>In Canada, for example, a former Rideau Hall employee recently came forward with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/former-rideau-hall-employee-speaks-up-racism-claims-1.5923995">allegations of racism</a>, highlighting the intensified mistreatment of employees of colour. </p>
<p>This summer, a British KPMG executive resigned after he told employees to “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/12/kpmg-bill-michael-resigns-after-telling-staff-to-stop-moaning">stop moaning</a>” about pay cuts, while also labelling the concept of unconscious bias <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/12/kpmg-bill-michael-resigns-after-telling-staff-to-stop-moaning">as “crap.”</a> </p>
<p>If employers swiftly confront dehumanizing behaviour at its source, other forms of prohibited harassment will likely not be tolerated, emphasizing a culture of respect for all workers.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Toxic workplace behaviour must be categorized as its own form of harassment. Fortunately, since Payette’s resignation, the definition of workplace harassment for Canadian federal employees <a href="https://canadagazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2020/2020-06-24/html/sor-dors130-eng.html">has been amended</a> to include humiliation and psychological trauma in the workplace. Federal employers must also submit <a href="https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/global-hr/Pages/Canada-employers-confront-harassment.aspx">annual reports</a> detailing harassment allegations. </p>
<p>While these are promising first steps, these regulations only apply to <a href="https://www.healthandsafetybc.ca/workplaces-covered-jurisdiction-federal-government-canada">about 10 per cent</a> of the Canadian workforce. For all workers to receive these protections, provinces must follow the federal government’s lead.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2012.01246.x">Researchers have found</a> that employees experiencing managerial abuse have a propensity to mistreat their co-workers, creating a toxic <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/06/times-up-for-toxic-workplaces">ripple effect</a>. Alternatively, if we raise the bar for workplace standards, especially for those at the very top, we all stand to benefit.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erica Mildner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Could the resignation of Canada’s governor general represent a watershed moment for workers’ rights?Erica Mildner, PhD Candidate, Sociology, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1363492020-04-16T13:13:21Z2020-04-16T13:13:21ZThe 2020 election is now a key moment if public universal healthcare is ever to happen in the US<p>Richard Titmuss, a British pioneer of social policy, published an influential book called <a href="https://thenewpress.com/books/gift-relationship">The Gift Relationship</a> in 1970. It reflects on the altruism that underpins voluntary blood-donation systems like those of the UK and most other European nations. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=917&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328357/original/file-20200416-192744-1dgxxrm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vein glory.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He demonstrated that such systems were superior to those based on market principles, such as the US, where donors were paid for blood by private enterprises. Compared to the UK, this resulted in fewer donations and poorer quality blood. The Gift Relationship became a bestseller in the US, and it led the nation to move away from market-based blood collection. </p>
<p>Around the same time, health economists <a href="https://academic.oup.com/oep/article/23/2/189/2360493">were reflecting</a> on the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hpm.4740010209">more general question</a> of healthcare as a commodity. In parallel with Titmuss, they landed on the notion of the caring externality. This is the idea that markets do not serve us well when the commodity in question is one where we care about, and thus value, the access of others. </p>
<p>The best way of extracting money from those who care and transferring it to those in need is the tax system. <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-private-alternatives-to-the-nhs-are-so-much-more-expensive-99336">Combined with</a> the inequities and high administration costs of private insurance, it explains why the NHS has endured in the UK – along with similar systems throughout advanced economies. It also explains why <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/296025712_Moving_towards_universal_health_coverage_lessons_from_11_country_studies">many other countries</a> have the same goal. </p>
<h2>American exceptionalism</h2>
<p>The US is the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-private-alternatives-to-the-nhs-are-so-much-more-expensive-99336">exception</a> among richer nations. It has not done with health care what it did for blood donation, despite extending coverage to some extent over the years. Health spending per capita <a href="https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-spending-u-s-compare-countries/#item-average-wealthy-countries-spend-half-much-per-person-health-u-s-spends">is way above</a> rival economies, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/number-americans-without-health-insurance-rises-1st-time-decade-n1052016">yet almost</a> one in 10 Americans have no healthcare coverage in this system. </p>
<p>Indeed, “system” is a misnomer in U.S. health care. It comprises several systems including not only private insurance but the Veterans Administration, Medicare and Medicaid, much of which is not integrated with either primary care or public health. </p>
<p>Attempts to move to publicly funded universal coverage have <a href="https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.14.1.66">continually failed</a> or been <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/2010-patient-protection-affordable-care-act-3306063">compromised</a>. Most recently, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/10/14/768731628/trump-is-trying-hard-to-thwart-obamacare-hows-that-going?t=1586961993691">promised to</a> “immediately” introduce health insurance for everybody at much lower prices than Obamacare, but <a href="https://apnews.com/968422ef1e16470c967bebc394fee331">this remains</a> in the <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-moves-allow-states-cut-medicaid-spending-poor-healthy-adult-2020-1-1028864097">long grass</a> nearly four years after he was elected. </p>
<p>Now American health care is under the microscope like never before. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign set the scene by making universal health coverage a cornerstone policy. The Vermont Senator’s <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/10/18304448/bernie-sanders-medicare-for-all">“Medicare for All”</a> would have virtually eliminated private insurance in favour of full publicly funded coverage – with a few exceptions in relation to dentistry, certain surgeries and so forth. </p>
<p>Joe Biden, Democratic <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/15/bernie-sanders-joe-biden-irresponsible-not-support">nominee apparent</a>, is not backing such a transformation, but he has <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/how-the-top-democratic-candidates-healthcare-plans-measure-up">gone as far</a> as committing to a “public option”. This would enable anyone, regardless of income, to buy into a pre-existing public scheme that <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/7/16/20694598/joe-biden-health-care-plan-public-option">would probably end up</a> much cheaper than private insurance. </p>
<h2>Enter the coronavirus</h2>
<p>How is the global pandemic affecting this debate? The key is how the US public views the efforts of more coordinated publicly funded systems in dealing with the virus. There are of course caveats about demographics, different stages of disease progression, and what measures are possible in different cultures. But <a href="https://www.datacat.cc/covid/">many nations</a>, including the ultra-interventionist Chinese, appear to have been better at marshalling testing, isolation and treatment – as well as behavioural initiatives to fight the virus. </p>
<p>In terms of deaths, the US is already accelerating past the likes of China and South Korea – click on the graph below to make it bigger. China’s death rate, in mid-blue, has completely flattened out. The other flattened line is South Korea, whose fast-response regime of test-and-isolate has kept deaths relatively low so far. </p>
<p><strong>Cases since first day with 150+ cumulative infections</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/328371/original/file-20200416-192698-1ptkfe9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">America first.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.datacat.cc/covid/">Databrew</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The US public might well be asking if their own system somehow lacks the ability to organise in such similar ways – particularly when poor people and black people are <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/157287/case-for-single-payer-coronavirus">being hit disproportionately</a> hard by the virus. This is <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/universal-health-care-italy-coronavirus/">inevitably being</a> pointed out <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/157287/case-for-single-payer-coronavirus">by supporters</a> of Medicare for All, which includes the <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid19-universal-health-care-coverage-20200310.html">American College of Physicians</a>. </p>
<p>But voters appear to be moving in the same direction. Two in five Americans <a href="https://morningconsult.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-universal-health-care/">say that</a> the pandemic had made them more likely to support universal healthcare, including one in four Republicans. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/medicare-for-all-support-americans-robust-sanders-coronavirus-pandemic-2020-3?r=US&IR=T">Another survey showed</a> twice as many voters in favour of Medicare for All than those against it. </p>
<p>Biden <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/biden-says-coronavirus-hasnt-changed-his-mind-on-single-payer.html">said several weeks ago</a> that the pandemic had not changed his mind on Sanders’s scheme, pointing out that Italy has such a single-payer system and has still been hit very hard. New York’s Democrat governor, Andrew Cuomo, has also <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/andrew-cuomo-new-york-coronavirus-982087/">refused to</a> back such reforms, but he has certainly been <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/covid-ny-hospital-medicaid/">loudly highlighting</a> the inadequacies of the system. </p>
<p>In light of this and the unfolding public health disaster in the US, it seems like the sort of climate in which great shifts might be possible. Perhaps it is time for the American public not only to adopt the mindset of The Gift Relationship and the caring externality, but actually to ensure they are enacted into public policy. </p>
<p>For his part, Trump <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-trump-says-he-might-help-millions-of-uninsured-americans-2020-4?r=US&IR=T">recently said</a> he wants to extend Medicare/Medicaid to the 30 million Americans who don’t have it. Such an acutely political operator will certainly be aware that having the wrong policy on American healthcare going into the presidential election could bring about almost anyone’s downfall in a year like 2020. With a long and difficult period ahead for the US, who can say what will be on the table by the autumn.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/136349/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cam Donaldson has recently received funding from the Medical Research Council, the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government's Health & Social Care Directorate and the National Institute for Health Research. </span></em></p>With almost 30,000 Americans having succumbed to coronavirus, twice as many voters now want Medicare for All than are against it.Cam Donaldson, Yunus Chair and Pro Vice Chancellor Research, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1355992020-04-06T19:41:47Z2020-04-06T19:41:47ZDemocratic governors are quicker in responding to the coronavirus than Republicans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325507/original/file-20200405-74198-1gq03dw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who did not issue a stay-at-home order for his state until April 1, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/florida-gov-ron-desantis-attends-a-news-conference-in-the-news-photo/1215749962?adppopup=true">Joe Raedle/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While the coronavirus pandemic is a national and international concern, state and local officials find themselves on the front lines of the public health battle. </p>
<p>Governors, in particular, have been in the spotlight in recent weeks. New York’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/24/coronavirus-strategy-economy-debate/">Andrew Cuomo</a> has been praised by news outlets for his leadership at the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, while <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/brian-kemp-ron-desantis-donald-trump-coronavirus/index.html">others</a> have been criticized for slow responses.</p>
<p>A clear partisan gap has emerged in how quickly governors have declared emergencies and issue stay-at-home orders. Democratic governors have issued orders three to four days sooner than Republican governors, on average.</p>
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<h2>Timing pivotal</h2>
<p>We study state governments, including their interactions with the federal government. Our previous work on <a href="http://www.birkdalepublishers.com/index.html#politics-intergovernmental-relations">federalism</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/publius/article/49/3/540/5490316">state politics</a> has identified partisan conflict between national, state and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1087724X19834563">local government</a>. Federalism is the distribution of power and authority across levels of government, and partisan conflict involves disagreements and competition between political parties. Partisan conflict over policy is nothing new. </p>
<p>But the coronavirus has put some governors in an ideologically compromising position. Republicans, who traditionally advocated for states’ rights, now find themselves deferring to the federal government. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Democrats are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/some-u-s-governors-have-stepped-during-coronavirus-others-not-n1170706">leading the nation</a> on pandemic responses and <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/01/coronavirus-state-governors-best-worst-covid-19-159945">reaping the political rewards</a>. They are also pushing for more federal coordination efforts, especially in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/governors-trump-coronavirus.html">obtaining high-demand medical supplies</a>.</p>
<p>Although the same policies are being used across the country, the timing of decisions is likely to prove pivotal in mitigating how hard COVID-19 hits communities, as experiences in <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/opinions/south-korea-italy-coronavirus-survivability-sepkowitz/index.html">South Korea and Italy</a> suggest. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/2020/04/02/the-early-days-of-a-global-pandemic-a-timeline-of-covid-19-spread-and-government-interventions/">Earlier emergency declarations and stay-at-home orders increase the chances</a> of a better outcome for the health of people in the state. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325508/original/file-20200405-74255-oihr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Trump’s early discounting of the danger of the coronavirus may have stalled action by Republican governors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/president-donald-j-trump-with-vice-president-mike-pence-and-news-photo/1206910692?adppopup=true">Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A trend – with exceptions</h2>
<p>Based on a review of emergency declarations, we found that the median date for instituting a state of emergency for Democratic governors was March 10, and for Republican governors, March 13. </p>
<p>Although stay-at-home orders have only been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-stay-at-home-order.html">issued in 41 states</a> as of April 4, a similar trend is emerging there. </p>
<p>So far, all 24 Democratic governors have issued such an order with a median date of March 24. On the other hand, only 17 of 26 Republican governors have, and of those the median date is March 30. </p>
<p><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-hitting-democrat-communities-more-than-republican-ones-143813828.html">Some argue that states led by Republicans were hit by COVID-19 later</a> or not as hard as states led by Democrats. Yet based on data from the <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/2/d/e/2PACX-1vRwAqp96T9sYYq2-i7Tj0pvTf6XVHjDSMIKBdZHXiCGGdNC0ypEU9NbngS8mxea55JuCFuua1MUeOj5/pubhtml">COVID Tracking Project</a>, there was little difference in the number of cases in each state when governors announced these orders. </p>
<p>Most governors used boilerplate language citing public health experts in their announcements. But some evidence shows that Republican governors were responding to leadership from President Donald Trump, who largely <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html">downplayed</a> the severity of the pandemic for weeks, which discouraged governors from taking actions that contradicted the leader of their party. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/opinion/trump-coronavirus.html">For instance</a>, on March 7, he said “I’m not concerned at all,” and on March 10 he claimed “it will go away. Just stay calm.” </p>
<p>Additionally, nearly half of Republican governors declared emergencies on the same day – March 13 – that the president declared a national emergency, and a few have explicitly cited Trump as a reason behind their decisions. </p>
<p>Georgia Republican Gov. <a href="https://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/health-care/gov-kemp-declares-georgia-public-health-emergency-effective-march-14/">Brian Kemp</a> said, “Based on President Trump’s emergency declaration, I will declare a public health emergency.” </p>
<p>Florida’s Ron DeSantis, a Republican who had <a href="https://khn.org/news/under-pressure-florida-governor-finally-orders-residents-to-stay-home/">resisted issuing a stay-at-home order</a> despite mounting pressure from public health officials and the media, cited the shift in Trump’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/01/politics/desantis-florida-coronavirus/index.html">tone and demeanor</a> as the signal it was time to issue a stay-at-home order to contain the pandemic in his state. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/325509/original/file-20200405-74206-bsl5nh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency on March 10.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-Michigan/e295ec51822b4852b148f2f4fd4824b7/15/0">AP Photo/David Eggert</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other Republican governors acted earlier. One factor in those cases is Trump’s approval ratings: <a href="https://morningconsult.com/tracking-trump-2/">Republicans in states where the president is unpopular moved more quickly</a>.</p>
<p>Trump’s net approval – the portion of survey respondents approving of Trump’s job performance minus the portion disapproving –
in states with Republican governors that declared emergencies before March 13 averages +1; in Republican states declaring emergencies on or after March 13, it averages +8. For Democratic states, Trump’s net approval averages -9 before March 13, and -10 on or after March 13. Clearly, Trump’s net approval is important to the Republican governors.</p>
<p>Ohio’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52113186">Mike DeWine</a> was the first governor to call for a statewide closure of schools on March 12, and Maryland’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/03/us/politics/maryland-coronavirus.html">Larry Hogan</a>, who has been vocal in criticizing the White House’s leadership, was the first Republican governor to declare an emergency, on March 5. Trump’s net approval in Ohio is 0 and in Maryland, -24.</p>
<h2>Partisan conflict evident</h2>
<p>In contrast, Democratic governors have advocated for more aggressive response efforts at both state and federal levels. </p>
<p>In addition to Andrew Cuomo, who has become a key figure in recent weeks, Michigan’s <a href="https://www.wilx.com/content/news/President-Trump-and-Gov-Whitmer-569155591.html'">Gretchen Whitmer</a> has traded jabs with the president. New Jersey’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/02/politics/new-jersey-governor-coronavirus-postmortem-cnntv/index.html">Phil Murphy</a> has called for a “postmortem” on the federal response to understand why it has gone so wrong. </p>
<p>While conflict between political parties is usually most visible in Congress, the coronavirus has put partisan conflict between the president and governors on full display as federal and state governments try to contain this pandemic.</p>
<p>[<em>Get facts about coronavirus and the latest research.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-facts">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/135599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When US governors declared a state of emergency is likely pivotal in mitigating how hard COVID-19 hits their states. And it turns out that one party’s governors made those decisions more quickly.Luke Fowler, Associate Professor and MPA Director, Boise State UniversityJaclyn Kettler, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Boise State UniversityStephanie Witt, Professor of Public Policy, Administration and Political Science, Boise State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1349832020-04-02T14:35:46Z2020-04-02T14:35:46ZGovernors take charge of response to the coronavirus<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324708/original/file-20200401-23086-16syrat.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee ordered all bars, restaurants, entertainment and recreation facilities to temporarily close to fight the spread of COVID-19. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/washington-state-governor-jay-inslee-talks-at-a-press-news-photo/1207390172?adppopup=true">Getty/Erika Schultz-Pool</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Just after every gubernatorial election, but before inaugurations, the <a href="https://www.nga.org/">National Governors Association</a> organizes a two-day “New Governors School.” Current governors serve as the faculty for newly elected governors, offering a crash course in taking on states’ highest office from those with first-hand experience.</p>
<p>It is not by chance that the first of about eight sessions focuses on “What do you do in a crisis?” </p>
<p>One of the very first recommendations to all new governors during this session is to make their first appointment the state’s emergency preparedness agency director – not the chief of staff or even the governor’s liaison to the legislature. Those can wait.</p>
<p>The nation’s governors know a crisis can happen the day after the inauguration and they need to be prepared. Today, the coronavirus pandemic is <a href="https://www.cnet.com/pictures/coronavirus-in-pictures-scenes-pandemic-scenes-from-around-the-world/">rocking the world</a> as we know it — quickly, radically and dramatically. Because the virus’ impact and timeline vary by geography and population, this unprecedented period demands <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/18/cuomo-de-blasio-odds-over-ny-response-coronavirus/">state and local government leadership</a> – and the very kind of preparation given governors in their pre-inaugural training.</p>
<p>Governors are taking <a href="https://www.governor.wa.gov/tags/covid-19-coronavirus">aggressive action</a> <a href="https://governor.maryland.gov/coronavirus/">in their states</a> <a href="https://www.virginia.gov/coronavirus/">to limit the spread</a> of the COVID-19 virus. Each governor is tailoring the response to the unique needs of their state. </p>
<p>So far they’re doing well, according to public opinion polls. When asked who was handling the coronavirus crisis best – local, state or federal governments, or Congress – respondents to an <a href="https://apnews.com/1a7c1f7f226c6d04fa7ca380998a7e9a">Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll</a> released on April 1 gave the highest approval rating to states.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324711/original/file-20200401-23090-15cgab5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has become a prominent face of the response to the coronavirus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/following-the-arrival-in-new-york-city-of-the-u-s-naval-news-photo/1208728765?adppopup=true">Getty/Albin Lohr-Jones/Pacific Press/LightRocket</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Broad powers</h2>
<p>I was the <a href="https://slge.org/team/raymond-c-scheppach-phd">executive director of the National Governors Association</a> from 1983 to 2011. In working with more than 300 governors, some lessons emerged. </p>
<p>Many state laws and executive orders provide governors with <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the-governor-declared-a-state-of-emergency-what-does-that-mean/ar-BB110Yme">very broad powers during an emergency</a>. Those powers derive from a governor’s fundamental charge, embedded in most state constitutions, to faithfully execute the state’s laws.</p>
<p><a href="https://nypost.com/2018/01/04/cuomo-declares-state-of-emergency-as-cyclone-bomb-batters-nyc/">From</a> <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/12/10/washington-gov-declares-weather-emergency/77081310/">natural disasters</a> like flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes <a href="https://www.mass.gov/service-details/state-of-emergency-information">to human-caused</a>, mass shootings and bombings, citizens and business look to governors for response and recovery.</p>
<p>Some of the lessons include:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Pull together a small, trusted ad-hoc team with the critical expertise to help the governor make decisions. Assign roles that address both short- and long-term needs and start thinking about recovery. Governors are making decisions based on the best advice of the health care specialists within state government, and at universities, and in coordination with the federal <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Be present, early and often. In a pandemic, leaders can’t go to the site of the emergency the way they would during other catastrophes, but they can be seen in many other ways, <a href="https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/inslee-provides-construction-guidance-and-signs-proclamations-ui-rules-healthcare">providing information</a>, surveying needs and helping to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2020/03/19/how-new-york-governor-andrew-cuomo-balances-calm-with-the-need-for-drastic-measures-in-covid-19-updates/#643f82525bcc">calm the public</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Vet and verify all information, using your crisis team before making it public. Public trust demands accurate information. Rumors will always circulate, but you can minimize their impact with a constant flow of accurate information.</p></li>
<li><p>Be clear about what is expected and give people specific ways to help. Even simple tips like <a href="https://www.wdsu.com/article/lot-of-focus-on-hand-sanitizer-louisiana-governor-says-just-wash-those-hands/31494752#">washing hands</a> and <a href="http://goea.louisiana.gov/">caring for elders</a> give people something tangible to do when so many factors feel out of their control. Almost all <a href="https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/list-these-states-have-closed-all-schools-due-to-coronavirus">states have closed schools</a> and limited the size of gatherings, generally to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/health/coronavirus-social-distancing-crowd-size.html">10 or fewer people</a>. Many have also restricted <a href="https://www.koco.com/article/gov-stitt-temporarily-stops-out-of-state-travel-paid-for-by-state-amid-coronavirus-pandemic/31965928">state employee travel</a> and implemented state restrictions on non-essential businesses. Some of the restrictions are mandatory while others are recommended or only affect certain activities <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2020/03/16/coronavirus-colorado-bars-restaurants-dmv-closed/">like bars</a>. </p></li>
<li><p>Transcend party and governmental lines. Most governors are searching for <a href="https://apnews.com/ecf40ba096d768a58f085b68f92eab1d">protective equipment for health care workers</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/us/politics/trump-coronavirus-respirators.html">ventilators for the surge in new cases</a>. During many crises they work through the <a href="https://emacweb.org/">Emergency Management Assistance Compact</a>, which is a compact ratified by Congress of which all states and some territories are members. Here they often share emergency medical services and even National Guard equipment and units.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It works well when one or two states are facing a crisis, but with COVID-19 all states are facing it, so they have to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/03/24/scramble-medical-equipment-descends-into-chaos-us-states-hospitals-compete-rare-supplies/">depend on the federal government</a>. For many <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/03/trump-coronavirus-social-distancing-extension-flattery-self-interest.html">this will be a test of patience and not engaging in partisan tactics</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/324721/original/file-20200401-23109-f0ty37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, had state health officials cancel his state’s Democratic primary in mid-March.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/county-election-workers-hand-out-election-delayed-signs-to-news-photo/1207464440?adppopup=true">Getty/Megan Jelinger/AFP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Plenty of practice</h2>
<p>While President <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/trump-democratic-governors-cuomo/609124/">Donald Trump has waxed and waned in his affection</a> for some of the nation’s governors during the crisis, he has respected the governors’ power to decide measures to protect from and respond to COVID-19. He recently indicated he was thinking of quarantining residents from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, <a href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/coronavirus/2020/3/28/21198143/donald-trump-quarantine-new-york-new-jersey-connecticut-coronavirus">but then decided not to</a> after governors objected.</p>
<p>For better or worse, the states’ highest offices get plenty of practice. Governors usually face at least one crisis during their term in office, and many will manage several. Things can go bad quickly: Consider Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh, who had only been in office for 72 days when <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/blog/energy/2012/03/gov-dick-thornburgh-tmi-nuclear-future.html">the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident struck</a>.</p>
<p>Governors believe they are responsible for the health and welfare of their citizens and they take it seriously and personally. That’s because governors generally know several thousand people across the state, from the largest city to the smallest towns. </p>
<p>This personal connection and the enormous responsibility of responding to a pandemic are creating the biggest challenge governors’ offices have faced in the history of the nation. </p>
<p>How they respond will have broad consequences <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/03/19/coronavirus-effect-economy-life-society-analysis-covid-135579">for generations</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>You need to understand the coronavirus pandemic, and we can help.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=upper-coronavirus-help">Read The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134983/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raymond Scheppach does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Federal government officials are on television almost every day responding to the coronavirus pandemic. But it’s the nation’s governors who are taking aggressive action in the states.Raymond Scheppach, Professor of Public Policy, University of VirginiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/582662016-06-23T10:05:11Z2016-06-23T10:05:11ZHow community schools can beat summer learning loss for low-income students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127775/original/image-20160622-7158-76f0rs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School closure over the summer widens the achievement gap between classes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=bP6aCjJu5mIxxYLo1bYQQw&searchterm=summer%20no%20learning&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=387777430">School chair image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article is a part of The Conversation’s series on summer learning loss. For other articles in this series, read <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-summertime-means-for-black-children-60152">here</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/giving-students-choice-in-reading-helps-stem-the-summer-slide-42735">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>My children spent summers reading Harry Potter, playing chess, swimming and hiking the Adirondack high peaks in upstate New York. </p>
<p>As a single parent with a career as a social worker and academic, I wasn’t rich. But I had enough to make sure that my children had what they needed to excel in education and enrichment outside of school. </p>
<p>While middle-class homes can often provide for summer enrichment activities, studies show a different reality for children from low-income families. These children and youth often lose <a href="http://asr.sagepub.com/content/72/2/167.abstract">months of reading and math skills</a> over the summer, widening the achievement gap between the classes. </p>
<p>What can schools do to address this learning loss?</p>
<h2>Summer slide</h2>
<p>The learning loss for youth in low-income communities adds up dramatically over the years. By ninth grade, about two-thirds of the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged youth and their more advantaged peers can be explained by <a href="http://summerlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SummerCanSetKidsOnTheRightOrWrongCourse.pdf">how they spend their elementary school summers</a>. </p>
<p>What makes this of concern is that a majority of U.S. students in public schools are now from low-income families. A 2013 study found that for the first time in U.S. history, <a href="http://www.southerneducation.org/getattachment/4ac62e27-5260-47a5-9d02-14896ec3a531/A-New-Majority-2015-Update-Low-Income-Students-Now.aspx">a majority (51 percent) of public school students</a> in the United States were eligible for a free or subsidized school lunch, indicating that they fell below the government’s low-income cutoff. </p>
<p>The majority of these students lack quality summer activities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127779/original/image-20160622-7196-muif73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A majority of kids do not have quality summer activities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=sAlhNvprNYJ_faTiRyXxjg&searchterm=children%20playing%20USA&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=139406240">Children image via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Furthermore, these issues do not exist in isolation. Children from low-income communities who often experience summer learning loss also often face multiple related challenges that impact their ability to attend school or focus when they’re there. These challenges include insufficient access to health care, poor nutrition, community violence and lack of adult supervision, among others.</p>
<p>Partnerships between schools and communities can help students’ academic success. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaced the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law in December 2015, addresses the achievement gap between children from low- and middle-income families.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9604.2011.01502_4.x/abstract">Title IV of the ESSA</a> under the program, “Community Supports for Success,” calls for a range of partnerships between schools and communities so students (especially those from low-income families) can gain access to services they need for academic achievement (e.g., physical and mental health care, adequate nutrition, supervision and access to healthy activities beyond school hours). </p>
<p>How can schools implement these partnerships?</p>
<p>Earlier this year, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo <a href="http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2016/04/01/breaking-state-lawmakers-reach-budget-deal-with-big-wins-for-charters-community-schools/#.V2lIlpMrLUI">announced a US$175 million plan</a> that demonstrates a way to enable such partnerships. Cuomo’s plan aims to convert schools with the lowest test scores and graduation rates across the state into “community schools.”</p>
<h2>Providing comprehensive services</h2>
<p>So, what are community schools? And how do they help with student learning?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.communityschools.org/aboutschools/what_is_a_community_school.aspx">Community schools</a> pursue a unique learning model whereby they supplement classroom-based instruction with out-of-school (before school, after school and summer) learning. They provide support to students whose families do not have access to academic support beyond the classroom. Their support is not limited to the school term, but continues all through the year. </p>
<p>My <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/school-linked-services/9780231160957">research on community schools across the U.S.and the world</a> shows that they look different in each community as they develop in response to each school’s specific needs. </p>
<p>The idea behind this learning model goes back to the late 19th century. The first set of school-linked services (precursors to community schools) can be traced back to the 1890s. Back then, they were developed in response to the massive changes being brought about as a result of immigration and industrialization.</p>
<p>As teachers struggled with new sets of challenges in their classrooms, this model provided additional support. For example, in 1894, doctors visited Boston schools on a daily basis – a practice that <a href="https://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/docs/02_01_01.pdf">helped bring down</a> rates of communicable diseases.</p>
<p>The amount of school-linked services and their gold standard – community schools in the U.S. – have ebbed and flowed over the years. In the last few decades, there has been a marked increase in the number of community schools. </p>
<p>Many individual schools, several counties and an array of cities have incorporated the community school model to reduce the achievement gap between students from low- and middle-income homes. These include Multnomah County (Portland, Oregon), Broome County (upstate New York), Cincinnati, Chicago, Hartford, Tulsa and more recently, New York City, among others. </p>
<h2>What’s the impact?</h2>
<p>The community school model has shown numerous successes. </p>
<p>For example, Oyler School in Cincinnati had fewer than 20 percent of its students reaching 10th grade in the late 1990s. After implementing a community school model in 2010, <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ965251">82 percent of students graduated</a> high school. </p>
<p>Many of these schools provide <a href="http://www.familiesinsocietyjournal.org/doi/pdf/10.1606/1044-3894.4306">extra outreach efforts</a> to involve families that may be hard to reach in the education of their children – a critical component of the partnership. A recent study of the impact of family engagement in elementary and secondary schools found positive correlations between engaged families and <a href="http://uex.sagepub.com/content/47/4/706.abstract">improved academic achievement</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/127781/original/image-20160622-7170-1l8z9p2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oyler School in Cincinnati.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/withoutsound/3390421423/in/photolist-brdbQX-6aAPcF-6aEYem-6aEY1Y-6aANst-6aEYaq-6aANn2-6aEYpb-6aEYkd-6aANG6-6aEYtq-6aEXsY-6aANaM-6aANx2-brdbYB-brdbHP-brdc12-brdbWx-brdbBt-brdbHa-brdbKP-brdbVr-brdbFM-brdc28-brdbEk-o9G5cQ-brdc4K-brdbSc-brdbNB-brdbJT-brdc3x-brdbMk-brdbCK-brdbTz-brdbPt-bVBXoK-brdbxP-nUeXvb-obzXB3-nUfN5p-obqYqT-obE59m-nUeXMy-obqZ9r-nUf3vc-dKK59-o9G531-pzvzRi-dq3HwH">Sean Biehle</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>School-based health centers are another frequent component of community schools. Studies indicate when there are school-based health centers, lost class time as a result of sickness <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20618619">reduces by as much as three times</a>.</p>
<p>Summer programs are often part of community schools. These programs provide enriched summer activities for students, such as music, dance, crafts, athletics and academics. This enables teachers in high-poverty neighborhoods to begin teaching new content at the start of the school year, without losing months backtracking over content forgotten from the previous year. </p>
<h2>Why we need community schools</h2>
<p>The community school model has been so successful that universities too are making this a focus of college students’ civic engagement efforts. </p>
<p>In 1985, the University of Pennsylvania took the lead in <a href="https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/sites/netter_internal/files/Harkavy_Hartley_Hodges_Weeks_Peabody_Journal.pdf">developing a university-assisted community school approach</a>. College students work with the community schools <a href="https://www.nettercenter.upenn.edu/programs/university-assisted-community-schools">to integrate knowledge gained</a> in their UPenn classrooms.</p>
<p>An example is the Moelis Access Science program where UPenn faculty and students provide STEM (science, technology, math and engineering) professional development to teachers serving students in West Philadelphia neighorhoods, which are marked by extreme poverty, violence and low educational attainment. </p>
<p>Over 20 universities are now <a href="http://www.communityschools.org/about/universityassistedcommunityschoolsnetwork.aspx">part of the network of university-assisted community schools</a> including Binghamton University (SUNY), Columbia University and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). </p>
<p>In an increasingly diverse society facing more complex social problems, the traditional model where education occurs completely within the school building, provided solely by teachers from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from September to June, needs reviewing. </p>
<p>That <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Schools-are-trapped-in-the-past-4221901.php">calendar was designed long ago</a> to leave youth free to work in their families’ fields in the summer. Since farming is no longer a major role for the vast majority of students, time outside the classroom can either enhance academic year learning or diminish it. </p>
<p>Do community schools that offer year-round programming and supplemental services cost money? Of course they do. But they have <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/9780875530062ch29">also been shown to save</a> health care costs. They can also save funds that are now being spent on residential treatment facilities for youth, prison and remediation. </p>
<p>With too many youth dropping out of school, the jobs and workforce necessary to compete in a global economy are at risk. Community schools make sense in a country that is committed to opportunities for educational success for any and all students, irrespective of their family income or their zip code.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58266/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Bronstein oversees the Binghamton University Broome County Promise Zone, which receives funding from the Broome County Department of Mental Health to implement a county-wide system of university-assisted community schools. </span></em></p>The learning loss that occurs over the summer for poor students can lead to a growing academic achievement gap in subsequent years. What are community schools and how do they help low-income students?Laura Bronstein, Dean of the College of Community and Public Affairs Professor, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/578572016-04-18T02:43:30Z2016-04-18T02:43:30ZA decisive New York primary for the Clintons – again<p>The April 19 primary in New York looks like it will play a familiar role in this latest Clinton presidential campaign.</p>
<p>Bernie Sanders is hoping his Brooklyn roots and left-wing stands will propel him to victory there, finally altering the dynamic of the race in his favor. </p>
<p>More likely, however, is that the New York primary will do for Hillary Clinton in 2016 what it did for Bill Clinton in 1992, which is to close the door to a left-wing populist challenger.</p>
<h2>Instead of Sanders, Brown</h2>
<p>The similarities between the 1992 contest and this year’s in New York are striking. </p>
<p>In 1992, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries,_1992">Bill Clinton’s campaign lost momentum </a>after early strong showings in the South, which encouraged then-former California Governor Jerry Brown, Clinton’s one major remaining rival that year, to seek a decisive win in New York.</p>
<p>Brown in 1992 was the anti-establishment champion of the Democratic Party’s left wing.</p>
<p>He attacked the existing system of funding presidential campaigns as corrupt, refused contributions over US$100, and created what was then the brand-new idea of <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/1992/0313/13031.html">a toll-free donor hotline.</a></p>
<p>Brown criticized Bill Clinton as a “bought and paid for” participant in a corrupt system. He <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1992-03-16/news/9201240748_1_big-electability-problem-hillary-clinton-bill-clinton">even pilloried</a> the Arkansas governor’s wife, Hillary, claiming in a public debate that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>He is funneling money to his wife’s law firm for state business…It’s the kind of conflict of interest that’s incompatible with the kind of public servant we expect.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/25/us/1992-campaign-primary-democrats-rebuff-clinton-connecticut-primary-brown-wins.html?pagewanted=all">Brown’s ideas and phrases</a> were strikingly similar to the ones Bernie Sanders has deployed this time against Hillary. “It’s not about me,” Brown said, “it’s about a process that hasn’t been working.” </p>
<p>After Brown <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/25/us/1992-campaign-primary-democrats-rebuff-clinton-connecticut-primary-brown-wins.html?pagewanted=all">won an upset victory</a> in the Connecticut presidential primary two weeks before New York’s, the chance of another upset in New York became real.</p>
<h2>The Cuomo endorsement</h2>
<p>For the next 14 days, the Democratic presidential nominating process looked as though it might go off the rails, leaving the party with no candidate sufficiently strong as to seem a legitimate nominee. </p>
<p>The Clinton campaign <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2013/12/8536957/state-clintons-and-cuomos?page=all">responded</a> with two weeks of intense campaigning by the candidate, a barrage of <a href="http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4587947/bill-clinton-ran-ads-april-7-1992-new-york-primary">television ads</a> and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/05/us/the-1992-campaign-new-york-despite-their-differences-cuomo-gives-clinton-praise.html">an 11th-hour de facto endorsement</a> by the governor of New York, Mario Cuomo.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/118784/original/image-20160414-2637-qakco3.JPEG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=607&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">New York’s very popular governor, Mario Cuomo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mario_Cuomo_speaking_at_a_rally,_June_20,_1991.JPEG">USAF</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This last, it appears, was significant. Cuomo was popular with Democrats. He had been the party’s favorite choice for presidential candidate until <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1991/12/21/us/cuomo-says-he-will-not-run-for-president-in-92.html?pagewanted=all">he took himself out of the running </a>at the very last minute. He had been previously <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/02/politics/cuomo-clinton-relationship-remembered/">openly critical</a> of Bill Clinton’s record as governor of Arkansas. </p>
<p>“As a package,” Cuomo said four days before the primary, “Bill Clinton would make in my opinion a superb president.” </p>
<p>On April 7, Clinton won what <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/08/us/1992-campaign-primaries-clinton-victor-new-york-with-41-democratic-vote-tsongas.html?pagewanted=all">The New York Times described</a> as a “bitterly contested primary” with 41 percent of the vote. </p>
<p>With that triumph, Bill Clinton’s campaign closed the door to the Brown challenge, <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/albany/2013/12/8537149/stupid-little-interpersonal-exchanges">essentially ending </a>the 1992 Democratic presidential nomination battle.</p>
<h2>Fast forward to 2016</h2>
<p>The parallels to 2016 are plain to see. </p>
<p>Hillary Clinton’s campaign has lost some momentum since her sweep of the major contests on March 15. As Bernie Sanders has racked up several primary and caucus victories in a row, the importance of the New York primary has grown. </p>
<p>Once again, New York Democrats have the chance to play king- or queenmakers. And Hillary, like Bill, is responding with energetic campaigning, lots of television ads and the support of surrogates, most notably New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, New York Senator Chuck Schumer and Mario’s son, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.</p>
<p>Hillary and Bill Clinton have close connections to all of three of these leading New York Democrats. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/nyregion/in-2000-a-clinton-war-room-didnt-fit-de-blasios-style.html?_r=0">Bill de Blasio</a> managed Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Senate in 2000, and she served with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2013/11/02/chuck-schumer-endorses-hillary-clinton-for-president-if-you-run-youll-win/">Chuck Schumer</a> after winning her Senate seat that year. <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/112891/andrew-cuomos-two-dads-mario-cuomo-and-bill-clinton">Andrew Cuomo</a> worked for his father as a kind of personal emissary, and was part of the process of negotiating with the Clinton campaign back in 1992. </p>
<p>If Hillary Clinton succeeds on April 19 in replicating Bill’s victory in New York, the likely consequence is that – to party insiders, at least – the nomination battle will be over. </p>
<p>Sanders, like Jerry Brown in 1992, would likely stay in the race to continue his crusade, but without any further big chances to turn things around.</p>
<p>The parallels between 1992 and 2016 in New York remind us that the Clintons are a team, and an extraordinarily experienced one in terms of electoral politics.</p>
<p>Although that has been a mixed blessing this year given the unhappiness among voters with the status quo, the Clintons’ experience has also been a source of real strength. </p>
<p>The New York primary may well reveal whether, in the end, that asset has mattered most in the Democratic presidential nomination contest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Stebenne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The story of New York’s 1992 Democratic primary – when another Clinton beat another left wing candidate with the help of another Cuomo.David Stebenne, Professor of History and Law Faculty, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/356552014-12-22T10:50:00Z2014-12-22T10:50:00ZFracking resolution in New York - escalation of fracking politics across the nation<p>Drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and in other unconventional oil and gas formations across the US, has led to a boom in domestic natural gas and oil production -– largely due to advances in high volume hydraulic fracturing or fracking. </p>
<p>The environmental and public health risks associated with hydraulic fracturing - a process of pumping a mixture of water, sand, and chemical additives, under high pressure, deep underground to release oil and natural gas from shale formations - have fueled political debates over how best to regulate oil and gas development. </p>
<p>These debates have been particularly polarized in New York. First, in 2008, the state imposed a temporary moratorium in order to carry out an environmental impact assessment, review existing regulations, and conduct a health review. Now, six years later, the Cuomo administration has concluded that the risks are too high and that New York will ban hydraulic fracturing. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/nyregion/cuomo-to-ban-fracking-in-new-york-state-citing-health-risks.html?_r=0">December 17 decision</a> ends an era of political uncertainty in New York. During the past six years, many <a href="http://www.fractracker.org/map/us/new-york/moratoria/">local governments</a> in the state decided to move forward with their own local bans on hydraulic fracturing. While a number of local governments across other US states have imposed bans or moratoria on hydraulic fracturing, New York has become the second state in the US after Vermont, and the first to overlie a major shale formation, to ban hydraulic fracturing altogether. </p>
<p>This raises two important questions. What made New York’s ban politically feasible? And will other states follow suit and ban fracking? </p>
<h2>What makes New York special?</h2>
<p>The decision in New York may well have been informed partly by the science in the state health study but science is generally not the key factor in political decisions. </p>
<p>Political decisions are made at the intersection of values, interests, and identities. Making successful ones requires good timing and building support and minimizing opposition. For Governor Andrew Cuomo, the stakes were high. He was up for reelection in 2014, so a decision one way or the other might have affected the election results. He had to be careful not to anger any major voting base and yet, at the same time, show leadership. </p>
<p>As our research has shown, the opposition to hydraulic fracturing has been particularly strong in New York relative to other states. A <a href="http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SPA/natgasdev/Documents/Summary%20Report%20of%20the%20Politics%20of%20NY%20Hydraulic%20Fracturing_April%202014.pdf">survey</a> we administered in the fall of 2013 to politically engaged people in New York (including those with government, nongovernment and industry affiliations) shows little middle ground. This is not the case in Colorado and Texas, for example, where similar studies we conducted show a larger proportion of moderate positions. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=776&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/67864/original/image-20141219-31545-jngmu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=976&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No middle ground in the debate.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Courtesy Tanya Heikkila and Chris Weible</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Given that Democrat Andrew Cuomo does not have a lot of support in the middle, he would inevitably be caught in the crossfire in making a decision. He had to align with one side or the other. </p>
<p>Those in favor of fracking in New York include some local governments, mineral rights owners, and the oil and gas industry. In opposition are many local citizen-based groups and environmental and conservation groups. Our research also shows, however, that although the oil and gas industry may have financial resources, those opposed are better mobilized, better networked, and orchestrate more political activities that can attract sympathetic observers and gain political allies. </p>
<h2>A critical court case</h2>
<p>Gaining political leverage involves more than public performances. It requires the capacity to influence government. While opponents to hydraulic fracturing have proven successful at influencing local governments across the state, the durability and legitimacy of that influence remained uncertain until a recent state court decision upheld the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/01/nyregion/towns-may-ban-fracking-new-york-state-high-court-rules.html">constitutionality of local bans</a>. This court decision also provided an opportunity for the Governor to align with a powerful coalition - namely that against fracking. Indeed, without the state ban, it’s likely local governments would have had to go ahead without the Governor’s support. </p>
<p>While the opponents of hydraulic fracturing were gaining momentum in New York, the supporters had fewer political opportunities to gain a foothold on the debate. In part, this is a result of declining prices for natural gas prices, New York’s more limited shale resources compared to neighboring states and the fact that the oil and gas industry historically has not been a major economic base in New York. All these factors arguably inhibit New York’s potential for expansive economic development from shale gas, at least in the near term. </p>
<h2>The rest of the country…</h2>
<p>New York is obviously a special case. Whether other states now follow suit with state-level bans against hydraulic fracturing is an open question. </p>
<p>In states where shale development is active and the economic opportunities are still strong, such as <a href="http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SPA/natgasdev/Documents/Summary%20Report%20of%20the%20Politics%20of%20Colorado%20Hydraulic%20Fracturing%2010%2023%2013.pdf">Colorado</a> and <a href="http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SPA/natgasdev/Documents/Summary%20Report%20of%20the%20Politics%20of%20Texas%20Unconvetional%20Shale%20Development%207_19_2014.pdf">Texas</a>, we would not expect to see the same opportunity structures in place to follow a similar path. But the nation is watching and learning from the ban in New York, especially as <a href="http://www.utexas.edu/know/2013/04/09/ut-energy-poll-shows-divide-on-fracking/">public opinion</a> remains fairly divided on the issue. </p>
<p>For those supporting hydraulic fracturing, the New York ban is a threat that will likely lead to entrenchment and intensification of political resolve. For those against hydraulic fracturing, the New York ban is a possible path for victory by showing how to mobilize supporters and pressure government. </p>
<p>While the political uncertainty associated with the moratorium may have been resolved in New York, the debate is now likely to escalate across the nation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher M. Weible receives funding from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tanya Heikkila receives funding from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.</span></em></p>Drilling in the Marcellus Shale, and in other unconventional oil and gas formations across the US, has led to a boom in domestic natural gas and oil production -– largely due to advances in high volume…Christopher M. Weible, Associate Professor, University of Colorado DenverTanya Heikkila, Associate Professor, University of Colorado DenverLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.