Opinion Column By Stephen J. Farnsworth and Anders Barretta
In the legislative session that concluded Feb. 22, Virginia’s Democratic lawmakers demonstrated that they have something to teach Democratic members of the U.S. Congress about shaping public discourse, promoting their party and fighting back against executive branch power.
“Virginia politics today is very different than a generation ago,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington.“Twenty or 30 years ago, Republicans and Democrats in the ideological center would tell the extremists on both sides what was going to pass. Now, we really have the ‘Washingtonization’ of Virginia politics, where you have two very clear partisan camps that find very little interest in working with each other.”
UMW Professor of Political Science Stephen Farnsworth has been named a 2025 Fulbright Faculty Specialist to teach and share his professional expertise overseas. Farnsworth, who also directs the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at UMW, will travel to Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus to serve this Fulbright assignment in summer 2025 to lecture on U.S. politics and assist in the development of political science courses.
The Fulbright Program, a U.S. flagship program of international educational and cultural exchange, offers accomplished students and scholars in more than 160 countries the opportunity to study, teach, conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to mutual understanding. Talented scholars, educators and professionals from all backgrounds utilize Fulbright opportunities to innovate and contribute to finding solutions to challenges facing our communities and our world.
This is Farnsworth’s fourth professional Fulbright award. He previously served as a Distinguished Scholar in Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Warsaw, Poland (2024), as a Fulbright Faculty Specialist at Methodist College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019), and as a Canada-U.S. Research Chair in Public Policy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (2006-2007).
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to interact later this year with students and faculty at Near East University in Cyprus under the Fulbright Specialist program,” said Farnsworth. “I find that people around the world have a deep interest in what is going on in the U.S., and I am honored to be part of those international conversations about U.S. politics and government.”
University of Mary Washington political science Professor Stephen Farnsworth said getting bills passed, or not passed, can be a campaign message either way. “You can claim credit for introducing an idea even if it goes nowhere,” he said. “And you can blame the other side for standing in the way.”
“There is zero chance the Constitution will be amended in time for Donald Trump to see a revised version,” Dr. Stephen J. Farnsworth, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, told The Independent. “It is very hard to change the Constitution.”
“Well, this is really pretty unprecedented. If you look at the way that publicly leaders interact with each other, even enemies or potential adversaries do not level this kind of verbal combat against each other,” said Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington and author of the book, “Presidential Communication and Character.”
