Bilateral | Bipartisan — Views of American Politics from Virginia and the World

Dr. Lauren Bell, Professor of Political Science: Lauren Bell is the inaugural James L. Miller Professor of Political Science at Randolph-Macon College. She is the author, co-author, or co-editor of seven books, and her peer-reviewed work has appeared in journals including The Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, The Journal of Legislative Studies, the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Social Science Quarterly, Judicature, Political Studies Review, and the Journal of the Society for
American Music. She is a former American Political Science Association congressional fellow (1997-98) and a former U.S. Supreme Court fellow (2006-07).

Dr. Elliott Fullmer, Professor of Political Science: Dr. Elliott Fullmer’s research on voting behavior has been published in various scholarly journals, including American Politics Research, Election Law Journal, Presidential Studies Quarterly, State Politics & Policy Quarterly, and The Forum. He has authored opinion pieces on election reform for USA Today, Richmond Times-Dispatch, and Virginia Capitol Connections, and he has appeared on local public radio (VPM News) several times. Since 2019, he has authored four
books – Basics of American Politics, 16th ed. (2019), Tuesday’s Gone: America’s Early Voting Revolution (2021), Everyone’s Democracy: Confronting Political Inequality in America (2022), and Basics of American Politics, 17th ed. (2023).

Dr. Rich Meagher, Professor of Political Science: Dr. Rich Meagher is Professor of Political Science and an expert observer of local and state politics in Virginia’s capital city of Richmond, Virginia. He has been featured widely in print and on television and radio news programs. In 2024 he became the host of RVA’s Got Issues, a local politics podcast from Virginia Public Media (VPM). He is a political analyst for WRIC 8 News, and his commentary and opinion have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Richmond Times- Dispatch, and his own RVAPolitics site (rvapol.com).He has published a number of scholarly and popular articles on the role of the Christian Right in the Republican Party and the intersection of religion and social movements. His first book, Atheists in American Politics, was published by Lexington in 2018.

David Trads, International Journalist and Author: David Trads is an international journalist, author, and public speaker. Currently living in Denmark, during his career, he has served as a foreign correspondent in cities such as Buenos Aires, Moscow, and Washington, DC. His 2020 book, published in Denmark, Amerika, hvor er du? (America, where are you?) draws upon his many years of experience as a correspondent in Washington DC and discusses the United States he experienced, and what the rise of Donald Trump and the growth of populism in the U.S. revealed to him about what he both knew and did not know about American politics. He is a frequent commentator on politics in Danish and international media.

Erin Doss, Former Foreign Service Officer, US Agency for International Development & RMC Research Affiliate: Erin Doss is a former U.S. Foreign Service Officer, who spent nearly two decades serving the country through the U.S. Agency for International
Development (USAID). Her portfolio included a range of democracy building and security projects. Over the course of her career, she was stationed in overseas locations, including Iraq, North Macedonia, Thailand, and most recently Moldova–where she was working when the Trump Administration shuttered USAID, in September 2025. Between 2019 and 2022, Doss served as a USAID Congressional Liaison Officer, representing the agency back to the United States Congress.

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