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{{About|the political scientist|other people with the same name|Robert Spitzer (disambiguation)}} {{About|the political scientist|other people with the same name|Robert Spitzer (disambiguation)}}
'''Robert James Spitzer''' (born September 12, 1953) is an American ], commentator, and author. Spitzer is the author of numerous books, articles, essays, papers, and op-eds on many topics related to American politics. His areas of specialty include the ] and ].<ref name=SUNYPoliSciPR111024>{{cite press release |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=News Detail:SUNY Cortland |url=http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/political-science/news-detail.dot?id=c08cd8ec-f387-4307-8dcb-e8fccc937d27 |publisher=State University of New York College at Cortland |date=October 24, 2011 |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://cornellsun.com/blog/2008/04/23/foreign-countries-divergent-in-strictness-of-gun-control/?ModPagespeed=noscript |title=Foreign Countries Divergent in Strictness of Gun Control {{!}} The Sun |website=cornellsun.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116204214/http://cornellsun.com/blog/2008/04/23/foreign-countries-divergent-in-strictness-of-gun-control/?ModPagespeed=noscript |archive-date=2014-01-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2011/01/suny_cortland_professor_advoca.html|title = SUNY Cortland professor advocates a sensible approach to guns, from New York to Arizona|date = 16 January 2011}}</ref><ref name=SpitzerPost-Standard140107>{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=January 7, 2014 |title=New York's gun laws aren't so tough, historically speaking (Commentary) |url=http://www.syracuse.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/01/new_yorks_gun_laws_arent_so_tough_historically_speaking_commentary.html |newspaper=Post-Standard |location=Syracuse, New York |publisher=Syracuse Media Group |accessdate=January 13, 2014 }}</ref><ref name=SpitzerFacultyHighlight2>{{cite web |url=http://www2.cortland.edu/schools/arts-and-sciences/robert-j.-spitzer.dot |title=Robert J. Spitzer: SUNY Cortland |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=June 21, 2005 |website=cortland.edu |publisher=State University College of New York at Cortland |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>
{{BLP sources|date=February 2013}}
]
'''Robert J. Spitzer''' is an ] ], activist, and author.


==Career== ==Career==
Spitzer is Distinguished Service Professor of ] at the ]. He received his A.B. degree, ''summa cum laude'', from SUNY Fredonia in 1975, his Master's degree from Cornell University in 1978, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1980. He has taught at Cortland since 1979, and as a visiting professor at Cornell University since 1988. At Cortland, he has served as Chair of the Political Science Department from 1983-1989, 2005-2006, and from 2008 to the present. Spitzer is the author of fourteen books and over five-hundred articles, essays, papers, and op-eds on many topics related to American government.<ref>https://sites.google.com/site/robertspitzercortland/ {{Self-published inline|date=January 2014}}</ref> His areas of specialty include the ], and ]. Spitzer is a distinguished service professor emeritus of the ] department at the ].<ref name=SpitzerPost-Standard140107 /><ref name=SpitzerCV2012>{{cite web |url=https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByoyLoSA8QKpZ3E2SW5FbEVxYXM/edit?pli=1 |title=Curriculum Vitae:Robert J. Spitzer |date=March 2012 |website=docs.google.com |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref> He taught at SUNY Cortland from 1979 to 2021 and as a visiting professor at ] for thirty years. At Cortland, he has served as chair of the Political Science Department from 1983 to 1989, 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2020. He served as a member of the New York State Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution from 1986 to 1990. At Cortland, he taught many courses in the political science department, including Introduction to American Politics, The American Presidency, the Legislative Process, and Gun Policy.


==Activism== ==Work==
===Views on American presidency===
Since the 1980s, Spitzer has written books, spoken at public gatherings, written articles for newspapers, and appeared on countless radio and television shows in support of gun control, and has established himself as a passionate gun control supporter and activist. <ref name="thedianerehmshow">{{cite interview |last=Spitzer |first=Robert |last2=Kucinich |first2=Jackie |last3=McCarthy |first3=Carolyn |last4=Menino |first4=Thomas |last5=Kois |first5=Dan |interviewer=] |title=An Update On Efforts To Prevent Gun Violence |type=Interview |url=http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-01-07/update-effortsto-prevent-gun-violence/transcript |format=transcript |program='']'' |callsign=] |city=Washington D.C. |date=January 7, 2013 |accessdate= }}</ref><ref name="npr">http://www.npr.org</ref><ref name="huffingtonpost">{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=February 27, 2011 |title=Campuses Just Say 'No' to Guns |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-spitzer/campuses_no_guns_b_828822.html |newspaper= |location= |publisher=The Huffington Post |accessdate= }}</ref>
In 1983 Spitzer's first book, ''The Presidency and Public Policy'', challenged the model for presidential success espoused by ] with a policy approach based on ] "arenas of power." Spitzer argued that the ''type'' of policy proposed by a president, not personal political skill, shaped the president's success in ]. Michael A. Genovese felt "a more explicit application" to ] and ]'s early years would have improved Spitzer's study, but otherwise gave it a collegial ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=poli_fac |title=The Presidency and Public Policy: The Four Arenas of Presidential Power, by R.J. Spitzer |last=Genovese |first=Michael A. |year=1985 |website=digitalcommons.lmu.edu |publisher=Loyola Marymount University |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>


Prior to 1988's ''The Presidential Veto'', there had been no analytical, book-length account of the subject in almost 100 years. Spitzer's work examines its history and concludes that the ] has lost the revisionary power as the ] understood it at the ] Melvin A. Kulbicki called the book an excellent text and a "well-written blend of theory and practical politics."<ref>{{cite book |url=http://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/301812/Reviews |title=The Presidential Veto, by R.J. Spitzer |last=Kulbicki |first=Melvin A. |year=1988 |website=library.villanova.edu |series=SUNY series in leadership studies |publisher=Villanova University |isbn=9780887068027 |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>
Spitzer has also been interviewed and quoted extensively in the media in the U.S. and abroad on the gun issue,<ref name="thedianerehmshow" /><ref name="npr" /><ref name="huffingtonpost" /> and other American politics subjects, in such outlets as The Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC Nightly News, PBS’s News Hour with Jim Lehrer, MSNBC’s Countdown With Keith Olbermann, CNN, NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross, The Diane Rehm Show, the BBC, CBC, NHK, Der Spiegel, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Slate, and Politico, among others.


Spitzer served as president of the Presidency Research Group of the ] from 2001 to 2003.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/PRG/PRG_leadership_history.asp#PRG_Steering_Committee-2002-2003 |title=PRG Leadership History |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/ |publisher=Russell D. Renka |accessdate=18 January 2014}}</ref>
⚫ Prior to and since the ] rulings in '']'' (2008) and '']'' (2010), Spitzer argues that history and prior law do not support the ] interpretation of the Second Amendment reflected in these two recent court rulings.<ref>http://www.saf.org/LawReviews/SpitzerChicago.htm</ref> Writing since the two cases were handed down, he said that "the ''Heller'' and ''McDonald'' rulings have established as a matter of law an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. But although judges can change the law, they cannot change history, and the historical record largely contradicts the bases for these two recent rulings."{{cn|date=January 2014}}


===Gun control===
==Public policy research==
Since the 1980s, Spitzer has written books, spoken at public gatherings, written articles for newspapers, and appeared on numerous radio and television shows about ].<ref name="thedianerehmshow">{{cite interview |last=Spitzer |first=Robert |last2=Kucinich |first2=Jackie |last3=McCarthy |first3=Carolyn |last4=Menino |first4=Thomas |last5=Kois |first5=Dan |interviewer=] |title=An Update On Efforts To Prevent Gun Violence |url=http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2013-01-07/update-effortsto-prevent-gun-violence/transcript |type=interview transcript |work=] |publisher=] |location=Washington D.C. |date=January 7, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="huffingtonpost">{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=February 27, 2011 |title=Campuses Just Say 'No' to Guns |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-j-spitzer/campuses_no_guns_b_828822.html |type=Blog |work=The Huffington Post }}</ref> His written work on the subject has appeared in the ''Washington Post''<ref name=Spitzer121221>{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=December 21, 2012 |title=Five myths about gun control |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-gun-control/2012/12/21/6ffe0ae8-49fd-11e2-820e-17eefac2f939_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |type=Opinion |publisher=washingtonpost.com |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref> and the ''New York Daily News''.<ref name=Spitzer130117>{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=January 17, 2013 |title=The President's need for speed |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/president-speed-article-1.1241395 |newspaper=New York Daily News |type=Opinion |publisher=nydailynews.com |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref> He has appeared on NPR's ''Fresh Air With Terry Gross''<ref name=NPR110127>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s).--> |date=January 27, 2011 |title=After Tucson Shootings, NRA Again Shows Its Strength |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/01/27/133247508/the-history-and-growing-influence-of-the-nra?&f=13&sc=tw&cc=freshair |type=Companion story to interview |publisher=NPR |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref> and on MSNBC's ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann''.<ref name=Olbermann110112>{{cite interview |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |interviewer=] |title=Countdown: GOP leadership rejects gun-control legislation |url=https://www.msnbc.com/ |type=Interview: Video |work=] |publisher=] |date=January 12, 2011 |access-date=January 18, 2014 }}</ref>
Since the start of his scholarly career, Spitzer has researched and written on many topics related to American politics and public policy, including the behavior of American institutions, national elections, the mass media, the Constitution, and New York State politics and policy. His first book, ''The Presidency and Public Policy'', was a revised version of his doctoral dissertation. In it, he argues that presidential success in Congress was shaped by the type of policy proposed by presidents.<ref>http://www.uapress.ua.edu/product/Presidency-and-Public-Policy,5545.aspx</ref> His book ''The Presidential Veto'' is a wide-ranging examination of this under-appreciated presidential power, and it helped spark a new generation of research on the veto.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Veto-Touchstone-Presidency-Leadership/dp/0887068022/ref=sr_1_13?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331662163&sr=1-13</ref> His monograph ''The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics'' was a close examination of the New York-based Right to Life political party.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/Movement-Politics-Contributions-Political-Science/dp/0313253900/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331662062&sr=1-11</ref>


After former president ] wrote an op-ed about ],<ref name=CarterOpEdNYT>{{cite news |last=Carter |first=Jimmy |date=April 26, 2009 |title=What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/opinion/27Carter.html |newspaper=New York Times |type=Opinion |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref> the ''New York Times'' asked its readers, "Where do you stand on assault weapons?" Spitzer replied that one approach to "breaking the political deadlock over gun control" would be to treat it like ] and "renounce disarmament but embrace arms control, especially for weapons of military origin."<ref name=SpitzerReply2NYTQ>{{cite news |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=May 1, 2009 |title=Re 'What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons?' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/02/opinion/l02guns.html |newspaper=New York Times |type=Opinion |accessdate=January 18, 2014 }}</ref>
==Books==
]
Spitzer is the author of four books on gun policy, including ''The Politics of Gun Control''. First published in 1995, it is now in its fifth edition (2012).<ref>http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=287436</ref> This book is a wide-ranging examination of the gun issue that views the issue from a policy theoretic framework. It includes the history of America's gun culture, the Second Amendment, the criminological consequences of guns, the role of Congress, the presidency, political parties, public opinion, interest groups, federal agencies, as well as a comprehensive assessment of significant modern national gun legislation. It concludes by proposing a theoretical framework, drawn from international relations theory, to resolve the deadlock over this issue. Spitzer is also the author of ''The Right to Bear Arms'', a comprehensive examination of the history of the Second Amendment, its interpretation by the courts up until the date of its publication, and the consequences for American politics.<ref>http://www.amazon.com/The-Right-Bear-Arms-Liberties/dp/1576073475/ref=sr_1_22?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331662190&sr=1-22</ref>


⚫ Prior to and since the ] rulings in '']'' (2008) and '']'' (2010), Spitzer also argues that history and prior law do not support the ] interpretation of the ] reflected in these two recent court rulings.<ref name=SpitzerLostandFound>{{cite journal |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=October 11, 2013 |orig-year=2000 |title=Lost and Found: Researching the Second Amendment |url=http://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3294&context=cklawreview |format=PDF |journal=Chicago-Kent Law Review |publisher=Scholarly Commons |volume=76 |issue=1 |accessdate=January 10, 2014}}</ref> Since the cases were handed down, he wrote: "The ''Heller'' and ''McDonald'' rulings established, as a matter of law, an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. But while judges can change the law, they cannot change history, and the historical record largely contradicts the bases for these two recent rulings."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/righting-the-gun-debate |title=Righting the Gun Debate |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=February 10, 2013 |website=lareviewofbooks.org |publisher=LA Review of Books |type=Essay |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref>
His recent books include ''Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=April 7, 2008 |title=Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Training and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning |url=http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Constitution-Lawyers-Training-Constitutional/dp/B008SMSWS4 |location= |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521896967 |accessdate= }}</ref> and ''Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=March 20, 2009 |title=Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide |url=http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Control-Documentary-Reference-Guides/dp/031334566X |location= |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0313345661 |accessdate= }}</ref> Spitzer is the author of ''The Politics of Gun Control'',<ref name=SpitzerPGC5e>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=September 30, 2011 |title=The Politics of Gun Control |url=http://www.amazon.com/The-Politics-Gun-Control-Edition/dp/1594519870 |location= |publisher=Paradigm |isbn=978-1594519871 |accessdate= }}</ref> a book that was first released in 1995 and is now in its fifth edition.


Spitzer is the author of six books on gun control: ''The Politics of Gun Control,''<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=287436 |title=The Politics of Gun Control |edition=6th |publisher=Paradigm |date=November 1, 2014 |accessdate=May 25, 2015 |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. }}</ref> ''The Right to Bear Arms,''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/subpages/reviews/spitzerarms.htm |title=The Right to Bear Arms, by Robert J. Spitzer |last=Hoffman |first=Daniel |year=2002 |website=gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/ |publisher=Department of Government & Politics, University of Maryland |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230101059/http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/subpages/reviews/spitzerarms.htm |archive-date=December 30, 2013 }}</ref> ''Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide,''<ref>{{cite book |last=Spitzer |first=Robert J. |date=March 20, 2009 |title=Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0313345661 }}</ref> coauthor, along with Glenn H. Utter, of ''Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/8188 |title=BOOK REVIEW: Encyclopedia of Gun Control & Gun Rights, 2nd edition |last=Baus |first=Chad D. |date=February 24, 2012 |website=buckeyefirearms.org |publisher=Buckeye Firearms Association |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref> ''Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights'',<ref name="global.oup.com">{{Cite book|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/guns-across-america-9780190228583?cc=us&lang=en&|isbn = 978-0-19-022858-3|title = Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights|date = 11 May 2015|publisher = Oxford University Press}}</ref> and ''The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights''.<ref name="Spitzer2022">{{cite book |first = Robert J. |last=Spitzer | date = 2022 | title = The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-764376-1 | oclc = 1341442597}}</ref>
⚫ ===Partial bibliography===

{{copy edit-section|date=January 2014}}
===Other work===
⚫ *The Presidency and Public Policy (1983)
In addition to the American presidency and gun politics, Spitzer has researched and written on many topics related to American politics and public policy, including the behavior of American institutions, national elections, the mass media, the Constitution, and New York State politics and policy. His ] ''The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics'' was a close examination of the New York-based ] political party.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8748701 |title=The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, by Robert J. Spitzer |year=1988 |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=305–306 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.2307/1958103 |jstor=1958103 |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014|last1=Hershey |first1=Marjorie R. |s2cid=143100693 }}</ref> His book ''Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/reviews/2008/09/saving-constitution-from-lawyers-how.html |title=Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer |last=Schmidt |first=Patrick |year=2008 |website=gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/reviews/ |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230143959/http://www.gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/reviews/2008/09/saving-constitution-from-lawyers-how.html |archive-date=December 30, 2013 }}</ref> argues that legal training serves the practice of law well, but, according to the '']'', "presents a sharp critique of the 'wayward constitutional theorizing' published in law journals."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/recent_pubs0209.pdf |title=Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer |year=2008 |website=] |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140118040250/http://harvardlawreview.org/media/pdf/recent_pubs0209.pdf |archive-date=January 18, 2014 }}</ref> Pulitizer Prize winning historian ] said of this book, "Nowhere is the gap between pretension and performance more evident than in the realm of constitutional law, and Robert Spitzer explains why."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/Saving-Constitution-Lawyers-Training-Constitutional/dp/B008SMSWS4 |title=Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer |last=Rakove |first=Jack |year=2008 |website=amazon.com |type=Review |accessdate=January 18, 2014}}</ref> Since 1997, Spitzer has been series editor for the book series on American ] published by ].<ref name=SpitzerFacultyHighlight2 />
*The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics (1987)

⚫ *The Presidential Veto (1988)
==Personal life and education==
⚫ *The Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution (1990)
Spitzer was born in ] in 1953.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kay|first=Ernest|title=International Who's Who in Education, Volume 3|date=1987|publisher=International Biographical Centre|isbn=9780900332876|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e48dAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Spitzer,+Robert+James+%22+AND+%221953%22}}</ref> He received his A.B. degree, ], from ] in 1975, his master's degree from Cornell University in 1978, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1980.
⚫ *President and Congress (1993)

⚫ *Media and Public Policy (1993)
⚫ ==Partial bibliography==
*The Politics of Gun Control (1995, 1998, 2004, 2008, 2012)
⚫ *1983 ''The Presidency and Public Policy''
⚫ *Politics and Constitutionalism (2000)
*The Right to Bear Arms (2001) *1987 ''The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics''
⚫ *1988 ''The Presidential Veto''
⚫ *Essentials of American Politics (2002)
⚫ *1990 ''The Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution''
⚫ *The Presidency and the Constitution (2005)
⚫ *1993 ''President and Congress''
⚫ *Saving the Constitution from Lawyers (2008)
⚫ *1993 ''Media and Public Policy''
⚫ *Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide (2009)
*Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights (with Glenn Utter) (2011) *1995 ''The Politics of Gun Control'' (9th edition, 2024)
⚫ *2000 ''Politics and Constitutionalism''
*We the People: Essentials Edition (co-authored), 9th ed. (2013)
*2001 ''The Right to Bear Arms''
*Editor, Book Series on American Constitutionalism for SUNY Press<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.cortland.edu/schools/arts-and-sciences/robert-j.-spitzer.dot |title=Faculty Highlights: Robert J. Spitzer |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=June 21, 2005 |website=cortland.edu |publisher=State University of New York College at Cortland |accessdate=January 10, 2014}}</ref>
⚫ *2002 ''Essentials of American Politics''
⚫ *2005 ''The Presidency and the Constitution'' (with Michael Genovese)
⚫ *2008 ''Saving the Constitution from Lawyers''
⚫ *2009 ''Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide''
*2011 ''Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights'' (with Glenn Utter)
*2015 ''Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights''<ref name="global.oup.com"/>
*2021 ''We the People: Essentials Edition'' (13th ed., co-author)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.cortland.edu/departments/political-science/faculty-staff-detail.dot?fsid=312710 |title=Faculty/Staff Detail: Robert Spitzer |website=cortland.edu |accessdate=January 13, 2014}}</ref>
*2023 ''The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights''<ref name="Spitzer2022" />


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist|3}}


==External links== ==External links==
* Biography at State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland * Biography at State University of New York (SUNY) Cortland
* of the American Political Science Association


{{Authority control|VIAF=49331316}} {{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. -->
| NAME = Spitzer, Robert J.
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Robert Spitzer
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American political scientist and author
| DATE OF BIRTH = May 16, 1953
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Honolulu Hawaii
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Spitzer, Robert}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitzer, Robert}}
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{{US-polisci-bio-stub}}

Latest revision as of 20:24, 3 August 2024

This article is about the political scientist. For other people with the same name, see Robert Spitzer (disambiguation).

Robert James Spitzer (born September 12, 1953) is an American political scientist, commentator, and author. Spitzer is the author of numerous books, articles, essays, papers, and op-eds on many topics related to American politics. His areas of specialty include the American presidency and gun politics.

Career

Spitzer is a distinguished service professor emeritus of the political science department at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Cortland. He taught at SUNY Cortland from 1979 to 2021 and as a visiting professor at Cornell University for thirty years. At Cortland, he has served as chair of the Political Science Department from 1983 to 1989, 2005 to 2006, and from 2008 to 2020. He served as a member of the New York State Commission on the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution from 1986 to 1990. At Cortland, he taught many courses in the political science department, including Introduction to American Politics, The American Presidency, the Legislative Process, and Gun Policy.

Work

Views on American presidency

In 1983 Spitzer's first book, The Presidency and Public Policy, challenged the model for presidential success espoused by Richard E. Neustadt with a policy approach based on Theodore J. Lowi's "arenas of power." Spitzer argued that the type of policy proposed by a president, not personal political skill, shaped the president's success in Congress. Michael A. Genovese felt "a more explicit application" to Lyndon Johnson's and Ronald Reagan's early years would have improved Spitzer's study, but otherwise gave it a collegial thumbs-up.

Prior to 1988's The Presidential Veto, there had been no analytical, book-length account of the subject in almost 100 years. Spitzer's work examines its history and concludes that the presidential veto has lost the revisionary power as the Founder's understood it at the Constitutional Convention. Melvin A. Kulbicki called the book an excellent text and a "well-written blend of theory and practical politics."

Spitzer served as president of the Presidency Research Group of the American Political Science Association from 2001 to 2003.

Gun control

Since the 1980s, Spitzer has written books, spoken at public gatherings, written articles for newspapers, and appeared on numerous radio and television shows about gun control. His written work on the subject has appeared in the Washington Post and the New York Daily News. He has appeared on NPR's Fresh Air With Terry Gross and on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

After former president Jimmy Carter wrote an op-ed about the 1994 assault weapons ban, the New York Times asked its readers, "Where do you stand on assault weapons?" Spitzer replied that one approach to "breaking the political deadlock over gun control" would be to treat it like international arms relations and "renounce disarmament but embrace arms control, especially for weapons of military origin."

Prior to and since the United States Supreme Court rulings in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. Chicago (2010), Spitzer also argues that history and prior law do not support the individualist interpretation of the Second Amendment reflected in these two recent court rulings. Since the cases were handed down, he wrote: "The Heller and McDonald rulings established, as a matter of law, an individual rights interpretation of the Second Amendment. But while judges can change the law, they cannot change history, and the historical record largely contradicts the bases for these two recent rulings."

Spitzer is the author of six books on gun control: The Politics of Gun Control, The Right to Bear Arms, Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide, coauthor, along with Glenn H. Utter, of Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights, Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights, and The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights.

Other work

In addition to the American presidency and gun politics, Spitzer has researched and written on many topics related to American politics and public policy, including the behavior of American institutions, national elections, the mass media, the Constitution, and New York State politics and policy. His monograph The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics was a close examination of the New York-based Right to Life political party. His book Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, argues that legal training serves the practice of law well, but, according to the Harvard Law Review, "presents a sharp critique of the 'wayward constitutional theorizing' published in law journals." Pulitizer Prize winning historian Jack Rakove said of this book, "Nowhere is the gap between pretension and performance more evident than in the realm of constitutional law, and Robert Spitzer explains why." Since 1997, Spitzer has been series editor for the book series on American Constitutionalism published by SUNY Press.

Personal life and education

Spitzer was born in Utica, New York in 1953. He received his A.B. degree, summa cum laude, from SUNY Fredonia in 1975, his master's degree from Cornell University in 1978, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1980.

Partial bibliography

  • 1983 The Presidency and Public Policy
  • 1987 The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics
  • 1988 The Presidential Veto
  • 1990 The Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution
  • 1993 President and Congress
  • 1993 Media and Public Policy
  • 1995 The Politics of Gun Control (9th edition, 2024)
  • 2000 Politics and Constitutionalism
  • 2001 The Right to Bear Arms
  • 2002 Essentials of American Politics
  • 2005 The Presidency and the Constitution (with Michael Genovese)
  • 2008 Saving the Constitution from Lawyers
  • 2009 Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide
  • 2011 Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights (with Glenn Utter)
  • 2015 Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights
  • 2021 We the People: Essentials Edition (13th ed., co-author)
  • 2023 The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights

References

  1. "News Detail:SUNY Cortland" (Press release). State University of New York College at Cortland. October 24, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  2. "Foreign Countries Divergent in Strictness of Gun Control | The Sun". cornellsun.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16.
  3. "SUNY Cortland professor advocates a sensible approach to guns, from New York to Arizona". 16 January 2011.
  4. ^ Spitzer, Robert J. (January 7, 2014). "New York's gun laws aren't so tough, historically speaking (Commentary)". Post-Standard. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse Media Group. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
  5. ^ "Robert J. Spitzer: SUNY Cortland". cortland.edu. State University College of New York at Cortland. June 21, 2005. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  6. "Curriculum Vitae:Robert J. Spitzer". docs.google.com. March 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  7. Genovese, Michael A. (1985). "The Presidency and Public Policy: The Four Arenas of Presidential Power, by R.J. Spitzer". digitalcommons.lmu.edu (Review). Loyola Marymount University. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  8. Kulbicki, Melvin A. (1988). The Presidential Veto, by R.J. Spitzer (Review). SUNY series in leadership studies. Villanova University. ISBN 9780887068027. Retrieved January 18, 2014. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  9. "PRG Leadership History". cstl-cla.semo.edu/Renka/. Russell D. Renka. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  10. Spitzer, Robert; Kucinich, Jackie; McCarthy, Carolyn; Menino, Thomas; Kois, Dan (January 7, 2013). "An Update On Efforts To Prevent Gun Violence". The Diane Rehm Show (interview transcript). Interviewed by Diane Rehm. Washington D.C.: WAMU.
  11. Spitzer, Robert J. (February 27, 2011). "Campuses Just Say 'No' to Guns". The Huffington Post (Blog).
  12. Spitzer, Robert J. (December 21, 2012). "Five myths about gun control". Washington Post (Opinion). washingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  13. Spitzer, Robert J. (January 17, 2013). "The President's need for speed". New York Daily News (Opinion). nydailynews.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  14. "After Tucson Shootings, NRA Again Shows Its Strength" (Companion story to interview). NPR. January 27, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  15. Spitzer, Robert J. (January 12, 2011). "Countdown: GOP leadership rejects gun-control legislation". Countdown with Keith Olbermann (Interview: Video). Interviewed by Keith Olbermann. MSNBC. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  16. Carter, Jimmy (April 26, 2009). "What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons?". New York Times (Opinion). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  17. Spitzer, Robert J. (May 1, 2009). "Re 'What Happened to the Ban on Assault Weapons?'". New York Times (Opinion). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  18. Spitzer, Robert J. (October 11, 2013) . "Lost and Found: Researching the Second Amendment" (PDF). Chicago-Kent Law Review. 76 (1). Scholarly Commons. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  19. Spitzer, Robert J. (February 10, 2013). "Righting the Gun Debate". lareviewofbooks.org (Essay). LA Review of Books. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  20. Spitzer, Robert J. (November 1, 2014). The Politics of Gun Control (6th ed.). Paradigm. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  21. Hoffman, Daniel (2002). "The Right to Bear Arms, by Robert J. Spitzer". gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/ (Review). Department of Government & Politics, University of Maryland. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  22. Spitzer, Robert J. (March 20, 2009). Gun Control: A Documentary and Reference Guide. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0313345661.
  23. Baus, Chad D. (February 24, 2012). "BOOK REVIEW: Encyclopedia of Gun Control & Gun Rights, 2nd edition". buckeyefirearms.org. Buckeye Firearms Association. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  24. ^ Guns across America: Reconciling Gun Rules and Rights. Oxford University Press. 11 May 2015. ISBN 978-0-19-022858-3.
  25. ^ Spitzer, Robert J. (2022). The Gun Dilemma: How History is Against Expanded Gun Rights. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-764376-1. OCLC 1341442597.
  26. Hershey, Marjorie R. (1988). "The Right to Life Movement and Third Party Politics, by Robert J. Spitzer". American Political Science Review (Review). 82 (1). Cambridge University Press: 305–306. doi:10.2307/1958103. JSTOR 1958103. S2CID 143100693. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  27. Schmidt, Patrick (2008). "Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer". gvpt.umd.edu/lpbr/reviews/ (Review). Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  28. "Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer" (PDF). Harvard Law Review (Review). 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 18, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  29. Rakove, Jack (2008). "Saving the Constitution from Lawyers: How Legal Education and Law Reviews Distort Constitutional Meaning, by Robert J. Spitzer". amazon.com (Review). Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  30. Kay, Ernest (1987). International Who's Who in Education, Volume 3. International Biographical Centre. ISBN 9780900332876.
  31. "Faculty/Staff Detail: Robert Spitzer". cortland.edu. Retrieved January 13, 2014.

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