DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

Eden Melles is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She is deeply engaged in exploring the dynamics of race, ethnicity, and identity, with a specific focus on Black immigrants and diaspora, social movements, and political behavior. Eden has been honored as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Program Fellow and an American Political Science Association Diversity Fellow. Her research aims to illuminate the complexities of cultural and political integration processes, shedding light on the nuanced ways in which Black diasporic communities influence and are influenced by political landscapes.

Earlier this year voters in El Salvador went to the polls and handed a resounding mandate to presidential incumbent Nayib Bukele, who secured a second five-year term – largely propelled by support for his crackdown on the country’s powerful criminal gangs. His decision to seek a second consecutive term, which many legal scholars criticized as unconstitutional, has raised fears of a growing authoritarian creep in El Salvador. This has been compounded by growing allegations of human rights abuses leveled against Bukele’s anti-gang campaign.

To keep Tampa Bay clean, we could use tax breaks to reward pro-environment business behavior.

Are you interested in teaching English abroad on a Fulbright? Meet Nuo (Anor) Chen, current Fulbrighter in Taiwan. Also meet Amy Kehoe, NU's campus contact for Fulbright teaching awards. Get your questions answered!

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell discussed technological competition with China, China’s role in the Russia-Ukraine War, concerns over Taiwan and future U.S.-China diplomacy at a virtual town hall Tuesday. Political science Prof. Iza Ding, a local organizer of the town hall, said she had noticed growing interest in discussing China-adjacent topics at NU and considers the event on Tuesday a success. Ding taught “Political Science 355: Politics of China” in Fall 2023, where she observed many students interested in the topic. She added that many NU faculty members and students are also working on “China-related projects.” “The larger goal is really to build a community … regardless of people’s political positions, we want to make the public more informed and be able to make up their own minds about their opinions on China,” Ding said.

Racial violence is central to the American polity. We argue that support for violence, specifically anti-Black violence, has a long historical arc in American politics dating back to chattel slavery. In this paper, we argue that the racial violence associated with the “great replacement” conspiracy is much more pervasive among the white American public because of the historical legacy of anti-Black violent sentiment. To investigate the prevalence of this idea, we conducted a preregistered simple priming experiment aimed to tap into top-of-mind ideas about racial demographic change. Our experimental design spans multiple data sources, including two probability samples, over the course of a year.

In March, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) announced a major change in how the federal government collects data about race and ethnicity. These updates will affect how federal agencies count people of Hispanic/Latino and Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) descent. The addition of a “MENA” category is a welcome change that will allow millions of MENA Americans to have formal representation in the American system. And this update means the federal government will now categorize their racial and ethnic identity in meaningful ways. But these recent changes introduce some caveats that are important to acknowledge – particularly related to the erasure of Black ethnic identity.

Andrew Thompson (Ph.D. '21) has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania starting in July.

In February, French President Emmanuel Macron created a stir among his European Union and NATO allies when he declared that the West should consider deploying troops to Ukraine. Though his remarks were immediately repudiated by several of his European counterparts, they reflect fears in Europe and the U.S. that Ukraine is losing the war against Russian aggression. Macron’s timing was no coincidence. It came just weeks after a lack of ammunition and artillery forced Ukrainian forces to retreat from the city of Avdiivka, despite four months of heavy fighting that cost Russian forces over 47,000 soldiers and 360 tanks. The growing concern about the Ukrainian military’s ability to resist the Russian onslaught in 2024 has been compounded by the political impasse in Washington over funding the next tranche of military aid for Kyiv.

As to the issues driving Latino votes, safety is at the top of the list. And in Chicago, 46% of Latino voters identified crime as the most important issue, according to a study on the 2023 mayoral race conducted by BSP Research for the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern. “Latino voters want what every voter wants: Jobs, the economy and health care,” said Jaime Dominguez, a political science professor at Northwestern University.

Over the past decade alone, religious communities around the world have demanded state recognition, exemption, accommodation, or protection. They make these appeals both in states with a declared religious identity and in states officially neutral toward religion. In this book, Mona Oraby argues that the pursuit of official recognition by religious minorities amounts to a devotional practice. Countering the prevailing views on secularism, Oraby contends that demands by seemingly marginal groups to have their religious differences recognized by the state in fact assure communal integrity and coherence over time. Making her case, she analyzes more than fifty years of administrative judicial trends, theological discourse, and minority claims-making practices, focusing on the activities of Coptic Orthodox Christians and Bahá'í in modern and contemporary Egypt.

Quinn Mulroy has supported and mentored numerous graduate students and founded several ambitious programs at Northwestern, like the Connections program and the politics and Policy Lab. Mulroy received the Ver Steeg award for her dedication to supporting graduate students, especially those from historically marginalized communities. Named for Clarence Ver Steeg, a former Northwestern University professor in history and Dean of The Graduate School, the award annually recognizes one outstanding graduate faculty member and one staff member for excellence in working with students at The Graduate School.

With deep sadness, we write to share the news that Richter Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Provost Emeritus Charles Edward Gilbert died peacefully in Newtown Square, Pa., on Monday, March 11. He was 96. Gilbert was born in Albany, N.Y., and spent his early years on the family farm in nearby Feura Bush. He served a year in the U.S. Navy at the end of World War II before enrolling at Haverford College, where he earned a B.A. in political science in 1950. Gilbert then spent a year at the London School of Economics and Political Science before coming to Northwestern University to continue his graduate studies. At Northwestern, he met his future wife, Lee Schendorf, also a political science graduate student.

On 4 July 2021, Chile made history with the world’s first constitutional convention where men and women held an equal number of seats. One year later, Chile made history again, when the delegates presented a thoroughly feminist draft constitution. What made the draft ‘feminist’ was not just guarantees of legal equality for individuals of all genders, but provisions that sought to undo the historically unequal power relations between men and women. The draft charter contained rights to sexual health education and legal abortions. It envisioned a universal care system that would include state funding for childcare and elderly care. It required judges to decide cases using a ‘gender perspective’, meaning that they should account for how gender inequality affects women’s lives.

Napon Jatusripitak's new article explores tension in Thailand between the government and the Bank of Thailand. The two institutions disagree regarding the government's new debt relief measures and this disagreement highlights questions about who controls Thailand's economic policy and whose strategy, if any, will be implemented.

The Nonproliferation Review and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) are pleased to announce that an article examining the George W. Bush administration’s policies toward the nuclear programs of Iran and South Korea, “A tale of two fuel cycles: defining enrichment and reprocessing in the nonproliferation regime” by Sidra Hamidi and Chantell Murphy, has won the Doreen and Jim McElvany Nonproliferation Award’s grand prize.

In this CNN interview, Gabby Birenbaum and Mariana Alfaro discuss Donald Trump's reemergence on the national stage as the Republican presidential frontrunner. More specifically, they discuss Trump's rhetoric and its potential impacts on the Republican Party and the 2024 election.

Why is China's household registration system so resilient, and why are migrant workers consistently excluded from equal urban welfare? By disaggregating the hukou and land components of the rural–urban dualist regime, this article argues that dualist land ownership, formalized in China's 1982 Constitution, perpetuates the hukou system and unequal welfare rights. On the one hand, dualist land ownership results in an abundance of low-cost, informal housing in urban villages. This reduces the cost of short-term labour reproduction and diminishes migrants’ demands for state-defined urban rights. On the other hand, dualist land ownership enables local governments to amass significant revenues from land sales.

This article talks about the disproportionate level of eviction faced by Black Americans versus White Americans. Potential solutions to this issue, proposed by Dara Gaines, include increasing wages, providing education, increasing available housing, and offering child care. Gaines states “During the pandemic we saw the eviction rate drop substantially, and we see it’s creeping back up, and it’s because a lot of the assistance programs are over.”

Since the 2011 beginning of the Syrian uprising, more than 800 Syrians have become registered residents of Japan. Japan is an unusual destination for these refugees due not only to its geographical and cultural distance from the Middle East and lack of Arab diasporic communities, but also to what we call neoliberal humanitarianism: an approach by which states adopt policies and programmes to reduce refugees’ suffering while also regarding refugees as potentially profitable workers responsible for their own economic survival and social integration. In Japan’s case, the driver of neoliberal humanitarianism is its interest in keeping par with G7 peers in ‘doing something’ in the face of a global ‘refugee crisis’ on the one hand, and its lack of political or social will to receive refugees, on the other.

In this article, Professor Alvin B. Tillery, Jr. talks about the recent downward trend in support for the Democratic party among Black voters. He shows that, after record high support in the Black community for Barack Obama, support has wained in successive elections. Especially in today's climate of razor thin margins, Democrats cannot afford losses, especially from a bloc that is historically so supportive. Professor Tillery suggests that a platform adjustment may be in order for Democrats if they aim to keep Black voters in the 2024 election cycle.

In a recent interview with Hugo Balta, Michelle Bueno Vasquez shared some of the results of her research into the Afro-Latino diaspora. She also breaks down aspects of the US Census to explain the underrepresentation of Afro-Latinos in America. Michelle also shares aspects of her personal experience and how it impacted her perspective and her research.

Our Academic publishing excellence has been recognised at this year’s annual PROSE awards, with five of our titles named subject category winners and an additional nine chosen as finalists. Since 1976, the annual Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE) awards have recognised publishers who produce books, journals, and digital products of extraordinary merit that make a significant contribution to a field of study. This year, 118 finalists were named along with 41 category winners. Our five category winners will now be eligible for the next level of PROSE honours - the Awards for Excellence winners, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

In a recent interview with Hugo Balta, Michelle Bueno Vasquez shared some of the results of her research into the Afro-Latino diaspora. She also breaks down aspects of the US Census to explain the underrepresentation of Afro-Latinos in America. Michelle also shares aspects of her personal experience and how it impacted her perspective and her research.

Sinema will leave the Senate at the end of 2024. University of Arizona professor Samara Klar explores impact on election year.

News 4 Tucson and Samara Klar (Ph.D. '13) discuss the shakeup in the Senate caused by the departure of Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema

Congratulations to PhD Candidate Nicolette Alayón on her selection as a University of Pennsylvania Provost Predoctoral fellow!

Professor Alvin Tillery, Jr. commented on former President Donald Trump's anti-DEI rhetoric, stating: “They are trying to take apart the legacy of these laws that made us a multiracial democracy ... Trump is just picking up the mantle."

Professor Alvin Tillery Jr. commented on recent efforts by Republican lawmakers to limit the power of tenured university faculty. Tillery Jr. shares: “Let’s be clear, they are succeeding. I think the reason that we have a mostly untenured faculty in American higher education today is because you have Republican governance and a lot of these states that attack university budgets and don’t invest in these institutions in such a way to make wages livable for faculty.”

Professor Mneesha Gellman examines the recent reelection of Nayib Bukele as President of El Salvador. Professor Gellman breaks down Salvadorians' reasoning for reelecting Bukele, as well as the democratic backsliding being experienced in the country as a result of Bukele maintaining the country's state of exception, a form of emergency rule that suspends many rights and gives the president emergency powers.

The visibility of populations, policies, and the state matters greatly for questions of power, inequality, and democratic life. This article builds on existing scholarship by examining how visibility operates as a lever and effect of social control in a racially and economically stratified society. By doing so, the article identifies a paradox. Race- and class-empowered groups often pressure state actors to implement punitive policies or otherwise visibly contain and control disadvantaged populations. But they also tend to decry and disavow the necessary public costs of these disciplinary interventions. This creates a conundrum for authorities: how to satisfy popular demands for social control while concealing resource commitments.

In "Doing Good Qualitative Research," over 40 experts are brought together to provide a thorough overview of how to use qualitative methods in the social sciences. In Professor Pearlman's chapter, she specifically analyzes how to conduct quality interviews, specifically on vulnerable populations.

In a recent interview with The 101, Napon Jatusripitak provided a new interpretation of a classic argument regarding the structure of Thai politics, called the Two Democratic Cities theory. In the wake of the 2023 Thai elections, Jatusripitak and others reinterpreted the original theory with "A New Tale of Two Democracies? The Changing Urban-Rural Dynamics at Thailand's 2023 General Elections." This paper explores the changing dynamics in Thai politics and what the future may hold for Thailand. (Article and title translated to English from Thai, original text is linked https://www.the101.world/napon-jatusripitak-interview/)

In Episode 18 of their podcast, Mara Suttman-Lea is joined by Pamela Smith, the CEO of Verified Voting, to discuss democracy, what it means to her and what its future looks like in an time of democratic decline.

The White House only announced President Biden's own visit to Brownsville, Texas, a few days ago and the president's trip is another indication that Democrats are scrambling to respond to an area of perceived weakness. More than 6.3 million migrants have been detained crossing into the US illegally during President Biden's time in office - a higher number than under previous presidencies - though experts say the reasons for the spike are complex, with some factors pre-dating his government. "He needs to get down there, show his face, and get the pulse of what's happening," says Jaime Dominguez, a professor of politics at Northwestern University. President Biden has been criticized for failing to engage on this issue until now, he notes, and "perception is reality".

Illinois has witnessed a profound demographic transformation over the past two decades, with its Latino population experiencing a significant increase. This change has not only altered the state's demographic landscape but has also brought to light the untapped political potential within the Latino community. Political science experts, like Jaime Dominguez from Northwestern University, have underscored the political ramifications of this shift, pointing to the Latino demographic as the fastest-growing group in Illinois between 2000 and 2020. Despite their increasing numbers, the Latino voter turnout remains low, particularly among the youth, signaling a vast reservoir of untapped electoral influence.

Ogi Ifediora, who holds a BA in political science from Northwestern University, was recently awarded a record deal by ARTium Recordings/Atlantic Records.

“The Latino population is the number one growing demographic in the state,” Dominguez said. "It has been, particularly over the last 20 years. In fact, the Latino population particularly in Chicago in 2000 actually was able to prevent the city from losing another congressional seat as a result of the growth of the population, so politically it’s been significant.”

Ph.D. candidate Matej Jungwirth, along with two co-authors, wrote an opinion piece for "The Daily Northwestern" outlining their demand for dependent healthcare coverage negotiations as a part of existing negotiations between Northwestern Leadership and the Northwestern University Graduate Workers (NUGW). Matej explains the financial hardship that is all too common among graduate students with dependents and the importance of lowering the cost of quality healthcare in attracting graduate students to the university.

Romain Malejacq's recent article presents a fresh account of the potential value of rebel governance as a response to civil war, especially in areas that are historically not politically stable.

Professor Tillery shares insight on Nikki Haley's potential motivations for remaining in the 2024 presidential race, expressing that, with her opponent facing federal and state charges throughout the country, this is not a typical election year. By remaining in the race, even after crushing losses in several primary elections, Haley is poising herself as a natural next choice if Donald Trump becomes unable to complete his campaign.

“So you now have many Republicans who are more willing to fight quite hard against the Democrats because they don’t want to give a win to Biden,” Harbridge-Yong wrote. “However, even if individual members think they’re representing their constituents, representation at the aggregate level can be poor. What the public as a whole – which tends to be more moderate – wants is compromise and resolution.”

In this podcast, four undergraduate students, including poli sci majors Valentina Parra and Jezel Martinez, share their experiences as First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) students. Topics include Northwestern's Bridge program and the transition from high school to college.

In the chaos that characterizes Peruvian politics, nothing seems to last over time. Not even the best scriptwriter for a Netflix series could come up with the twists and turns that the country has experienced in recent years. Nor can we conceive of a cast of actors with such high turnover, starting with the six presidents we have had since 2016. In this country of constant change, however, there are hidden patterns or recurrences that structure politics and allow political actors to occupy a known “place” or “role” in our historical trajectory. In a work recently included in the book Legados de un Pasado Irresuelto , published by IDEHPUCP on the occasion of the twenty years of the final report of the CVR (Encinas and Zúñiga 2023 [1] ), we focus on one of these recurrences: the insistence of radicalism.

Xie, who holds a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University in Chicago and had spent six years living and studying in the U.S., emphasized the importance of firsthand observation in understanding U.S. politics. "Studying U.S. politics requires immersing oneself in the U.S. and feeling its heartbeat. Despite studying U.S. politics, I had never attended a presidential primary or caucus before. I need to observe this [process] firsthand at least once in a lifetime," Xie told Beijing Review.me,"

Congratulations to Northwestern Poli Sci alumnus Mara Suttmann-Lea on her new status as a tenured professor at Connecticut College!

We begin with the US vetoing a UN resolution put forth by Algeria for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza while offering an alternative draft resolution urging a temporary ceasefire on the condition that all hostages are released. Joining us to discuss the plight of the Palestinians trapped in the crowded enclave at the Egyptian border as the death count approaches 30,000 is Wendy Pearlman, a professor of political science and director of the Middle East and North Africa studies program at Northwestern University. Her books include Violence, Nonviolence, and the Palestinian National Movement and Triadic Coercion: Israel’s Targeting of States That Host Nonstate Actors, and we discuss her essay in New Lines Magazine, “The Erasure of Palestinian Society.”

Jonathan Schulman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. He is interested in U.S. foreign policy and the ways that public opinion and social mobilization (in the U.S. and abroad) can affect foreign policy outcomes. His work also explores how trust in scientists and researchers drives key outcomes related to public health, political violence, and the legitimacy of elections. Jonathan received the Doris Graber Award at the 2023 Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (MAPOR) Conference for the best graduate student paper on public opinion.

This episode is part of "A Closer Look: Indonesia After Jokowi", looking at what's next for the Southeast Asian giant now that the hugely popular President Joko Widodo is preparing to hand over power to former general Prabowo Subianto, the winner of the February 14 elections.

In this article, Professor Pearlman recounts the International Court of Justice (ICJ) trial in which Israeli lawyers defended against South Africa's case that Israel is committing genocide. Professor Pearlman draws special attention to the fact that Israel mentions Hamas while not making a distinction between Hamas and Palestinians. Professor Pearlman claims that this nonrecognition of Palestinian society is not new and not unique to Israel and she expands upon this history of nonrecognition and disenfranchisement.

Professor Wendy Pearlman joins "Background Briefing" with Ian Masters to discuss the crisis in the Middle East between Palestine and Israel. She pays special attention to the Biden Administration's response, including its unwillingness to call for a ceasefire and their continued cooperation with the Israeli government.

Jeff Feng is a STRONG Manoomin Collective Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University. Their research and teaching focuses on the intersections of climate justice and queer liberation, environmental justice, and social movements. They examine the contributions of queer, trans, and Two-Spirit activists to fighting climate injustices and analyze how power, privilege, and marginalization shape climate justice policies and movements. As a scholar-activist, they advance climate justice by researching alongside organizers, such as those in the Central Coast Climate Justice Network, and by teaching courses that pair students with environmental justice partners to complete collaborative projects.

This open access book investigates how representation of Native Americans and Mexican-origin im/migrants takes place in high school history textbooks. Manually analyzing text and images in United States textbooks from the 1950s to 2022, the book documents stories of White victory and domination over Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) groups that disproportionately fill educational curricula. While representation and accurate information of non-White perspectives improves over time, the same limited tropes tend to be recycled from one textbook to the next. Textual analysis is augmented by focus groups and interviews with BIPOC students in California high schools. Together, the data show how misrepresentation and absence of BIPOC perspectives in textbooks impact youth identity.

Professor Reno's quote sheds light on a potential justification by Congressional Republicans for tying further Ukrainian Aid packages to border security measures. Reno states "Because those in the Republican Party, for example, that support continued assistance, [...] they would probably benefit from public pressure, because then they could rationalize to their colleagues and Congres, why they have to support assistance, and create pressure to come to a deal."

Professor Reno's quote sheds light on a potential justification by Congressional Republicans for tying further Ukrainian Aid packages to border security measures. Reno states "Because those in the Republican Party, for example, that support continued assistance, [...] they would probably benefit from public pressure because then they could rationalize to their colleagues and Congress, why they have to support assistance and create pressure to come to a deal."

How much does it cost to run elections in the United States? The answer is not as simple as you might think. In this episode, Mara and Zach talk about Zach's journey from being a more or less casual observer of elections at the presidential level to a becoming a full blown election nerd bringing his expertise in accounting to the world of election science. Zach talks about the mind-boggling challenge of collecting data on election administration budgets in the United States. He also spotlights the people who make elections happen -- local election officials and workers -- as he muses on what voting means to him.

The International Security Program develops and trains new talent in security studies by hosting pre- and postdoctoral research fellows. Elizabeth is exploring women's representation in peace processes. Specifically, she is researching the influence of gender-based power dynamics on women's involvement in peace negotiations.

Professor Gans-Morse adds to the discussion of the War in Ukraine by explaining how military aid and spending in Ukraine can benefit the US economy and create jobs domestically. He also sheds light on Vladimir Putin's mindset as Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine.

Israel has a long and troubled history responding to hostage crises, but the nature and scale of Hamas’s hostage taking on October 7th is unprecedented. In this webinar, Danielle Gilbert will discuss the long history of hostage taking in war, the evolution of hostage diplomacy, and what lessons can be drawn from the current hostage crisis in Gaza.

The arbitrary arrest, detention, or sentencing of foreign nationals by a state to exercise leverage over a foreign government is an emerging but increasingly serious issue that requires international attention. Also known as “hostage diplomacy,” arbitrary detention used for diplomatic leverage exposes all persons who travel, work, and live abroad to risk and undermines the basic principles of international relations, including mutual trust and peaceful settlement of disputes between states. It also contravenes international law, threatens state sovereignty, and destabilizes the rules-based international order.

Robinson Markus, ’19, is investigating the intersection of housing, climate change and inequality in Quito, the Andean capital city of Ecuador. It’s Markus’ second research trip to the country — they first traveled there for their political science honors thesis during their undergraduate career at Northwestern. Now, he’s examining a government program offering a relocation subsidy to residents of neighborhoods deemed susceptible to climate-related risks like landslides and urban flooding. In partnership with FLACSO Ecuador and the Instituto de Investigaciones de la Ciudad (Quito Metropolitan Research Institute), Markus is hoping to find out what motivates residents to move or stay and how the choice affects residents’ climate vulnerability.

Monique Newton '18 One of the greatest athletes in school history, Newton was a three-time winner of the shot put indoors at the conference level. The 2016 NCAC Field Athlete of the Year, Newton won the shot put (48-06.25 / 14.79m) and was third in the weight throw in that season (52-08.75 / 16.07m). However, Newton was known to do her best work on the national stage. After placing second in the shot put at the 2016 NCAA Championships, Newton would go on to become the first female national champion in Oberlin history with a winning school-record toss of 51-00.75 (15.56m) at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. Newton's illustrious career would end in historic fashion at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships as she added another national title in the discus (164-06 / 50.14) and was second in the shot put (48-06 / 14.78m).

Congratulations to Sebastian Karcher, Ph.D. ('14) on his recent appointment as an associate editor of the American Political Science Review.

Mikayla Denault started at WMTV 15 News in January 2024 as an MMJ intern through the Northwestern Journalism Residency program. Mikayla is focusing on reporting and producing, and she is excited to grow with new experiences. She is graduating from Northwestern in June 2024 with a degree in journalism and political science.

This is a short video interview -- Matej's segment starts at 37:30 -- for the Czech national TV broadcaster about the recent media layoffs in the US. Jungwirth also discusses the worrying enlargement of the so-called "news deserts" in the US, or areas that are critically underserved by local news sources.

“The two most pressing issues for young Indonesians are finding jobs and education, On the ground, young voters are struggling to find jobs that suit their aspirations.”

In this recent interview with the European Resilience Initiative Centre, Dr. Mauro Gilli breaks down key events and tactics from the past two years of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, Dr. Gilli looks forward and hypothesizes about what a potential end to the conflict may look like, alongside exploring how it might come about.

While the May 2023 general elections did not produce a government that faithfully reflects the Thai voters’ mandate, the withdrawal of military-backed elements, which had been at the forefront of Thai politics since 2014, ignited hopes for changes to the junta-drafted 2017 Constitution. This anticipated constitutional reform, however, is shaping up to be a complex and contentious process.

Free speech on campus, book bans, educational gag orders, the overturn of affirmative action, the resignation of former Harvard president Claudine Gay. All of these issues center on one hot-button topic: DEI. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has become a staple in national vocabulary after the so-called “racial reckoning” of 2020 brought demands for racial justice to the top of institutional priorities. From schools, to Fortune 500, companies to the film industry, DEI efforts had a steady surge…until they didn’t.

Olivia Olander is a Chicago-based state government reporter at the Tribune. She previously covered labor and employment policy for POLITICO in DC, including the Labor Department, Congress and unions. Olivia is a graduate of Northwestern University and grew up in the suburbs of San Diego.

A group of faculty, employees, and graduate students at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., has not only offered support to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) but has decided to establish a new entity to complement the chapter’s anti-Israel activities. After 200 individuals signed a statement in December advocating for SJP, some signatories joined to create a campus branch of Educators for Justice in Palestine (EJP). The group defined its principles, including support for the boycott, divest, sanctions (BDS) movement, “as a way to pressure Israel to end the occupation of Palestine and the curtailment of Palestinian rights in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.”

“El Salvador’s presidential election results were predictable. After decades of gang domination, voters were willing to accept gross human rights violations in exchange for increased security for some. Votes for Bukele confirmed Salvadorans’ willingness to maintain the state of exception, which is likely to continue indefinitely and has already established authoritarian rule. The façade of democracy has fallen in El Salvador. Like Ursula LeGuin’s fictional story, ‘The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas,’ where one child is tortured in secret in order to maintain the happiness of everyone else in Omelas, more than 75,000 people are detained in El Salvador without the benefit of constitutional protections, and only a handful of detractors are willing to, in LeGuin’s language, walk away from Omelas and signal their dissent."

The impending arrival of the trillionaire signals another step backwards in the fight for a more balanced economy and healthier democracy. The billionaire class, after all, skews the balance of power in the marketplace, in politics and in society. Its members own newspapers that shape public opinion. They donate to politicians who pass the laws that they want. According to one study, 11% of the world’s billionaires have held or sought political office, with the rate of “billionaire participation” in autocracies hitting an astounding 29%. Another study shows they tend to lean to the right: positions that typically help them keep their own wealth, and that of their peers, intact.

In front of a few dozen faculty and students in the basement of Chambers Hall on Monday, economics Prof. Charles F. Manski presented his recent research advocating for including race in clinical algorithms. Manski’s lecture was part of the Institute for Policy Research’s Fay Lomax Cook Colloquia, a weekly series for faculty to present politically relevant research from a variety of fields. “It’s a chance for me and other faculty to be a part of a broader intellectual community of what’s going on at the university, and also create friendships and opportunities to collaborate beyond what’s going on in your discipline,” IPR Fellow and political science Prof. Laurel Harbridge-Yong said.

I am honored to be part of the @NFL @nflnetwork recent documentary, "The Flyest Ever.” The documentary profiles the intersection of Black Aviation and Football. The special debuts Tuesday, 6 Feb at 2000 EST. Thanks, @osahontongo, for the opportunity.

The aftermath of the first few days of the WNBA free agency signing period has left the Sky with more questions about the roster than answers. As of today, the Sky has eight players under contract for next season: Kahleah Copper, Marina Mabrey, Elizabeth Williams, Dana Evans, Isabelle Harrison, Sika Kone, Li Yueru and newly signed point guard Lindsay Allen of the Minnesota Lynx. Arguably, the biggest roster need heading into free agency was solidifying the starting point guard position. The Sky’s first attempt at addressing this need was on Thursday when they signed 28-year-old free agent point guard Allen to a two-year contract for $90,000 per year.

The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University presents Actions for the Earth: Art, Care & Ecology brings together work by an intergenerational, transnational group of artists who use strategies of kinship, healing, and restorative interventions to foster a deeper and more urgent awareness of our interconnectedness with the earth. Join us for an interdisciplinary opening conversation on art; eco-anxiety and resilience; climate crisis science and impact; and the importance of cross-disciplinary thinking and problem-solving to affect change.

Gabor Mate - author of "The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture" suggests there are “4 As” that help move us towards healing and wholeness: authenticity, agency, healthy expression of anger, and acceptance. But what does this have to do with democracy? I provide some thoughts on this question in conjunction with my remarkable conversation with Noah Praetz, president of The Elections Group. Throughout the episode we talk about the self-actualizing power of working in democracy spaces, and we come back to the idea that, while flawed, messy, and imperfect—democracy is the best answer to the question of how we govern ourselves.

Political uncertainty in Thailand has heightened again. The Constitutional Court has ruled that the party’s actions to reform the country’s lèse majesté law amounted to an exercise to overthrow the constitutional monarchy. This has sent the Move Forward Party (MFP) — the top vote-getter in the 2023 general election with support from over 14 million voters — into a potential death spiral.

While there is increasing recognition of the role of race in shaping global politics, the extent to which the construction and operation of international order is entangled with race remains underexplored. In this article, I argue for the centrality of race and racialization in understanding the constitution of international order by theorizing the constitutive connections between race and international order and showing how the two can be examined as intertwined.

The book presents a thought-provoking argument and has predictably generated debate, as seen in this roundtable. Jahara Matisek’s review is generally positive. He praises Hazelton for “going boldly against the grain” and accepts that this will force many scholars—himself included—to rethink their works on counterinsurgency. He also helpfully notes the broader implications of Hazelton’s book, such as for literature on statebuilding. Asfandyar Mir’s assessment is more measured. He notes its “rich empirical analysis” but finds a few “gaps.” He calls for greater specify in the theorizing about elite engagement, questions the definition of counterinsurgency success, and raises concerns about “selecting on the dependent variable.”

In 2011, Syrians took to the streets demanding freedom. Brutal government repression transformed peaceful protests into one of the most devastating conflicts of our times, killing hundreds of thousands and displacing millions. The Home I Worked to Make takes Syria’s refugee outflow as its point of departure. Based on hundreds of interviews conducted across more than a decade, it probes a question as intimate as it is universal: What is home? With gripping immediacy, Syrians now on five continents share stories of leaving, losing, searching, and finding (or not finding) home. Across this tapestry of voices, a new understanding emerges: home, for those without the privilege of taking it for granted, is both struggle and achievement.

Over the last half century, two major developments have transformed the nature of workers’ rights and altered the pathways available to low-wage workers to combat their exploitation. First, while national labor law, which regulates unionization and collective bargaining, has grown increasingly ineffective, employment laws establishing minimal workplace standards have proliferated at the state and local levels. Second, as labor unions have declined, a diversity of small, under-resourced nonprofit “alt-labor” groups have emerged in locations across the United States to organize and support marginalized workers. In Alt-Labor and the New Politics of Workers’ Rights, political scientist Daniel J. Galvin draws on rich data and extensive interviews to examine the links between these developments.

In recent years, democratic theorists have inquired into the aesthetic dimension of contemporary politics. Influenced by Hannah Arendt and Jacques Rancière, these scholars claim that there is an analogy between democratic politics and aesthetic experiences, since both involve the confrontation of an indeterminacy that cannot be overcome through rational argumentation. Contributing to this perspective, but challenging some of Rancière’s insights, this article shows the importance of Jean-François Lyotard’s writings on aesthetics for understanding what I call ‘democratic aesthetics’.

Indonesian politics experienced significant plot twists in 2023, with President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo emerging as a central figure and orchestrating seasoned tactical moves in the lead up to 2024’s presidential and legislative elections. The political landscape was dominated by elite interests with minimal public participation, while ideological distinctions between candidates were blurred.

International aid organizations and donors have committed to localize aid by empowering local actors to deliver and lead in humanitarian response. While international actors do often rely on local actors for aid delivery, their progress on shifting authority falls short. Scholars suggest that while localizing aid may be desirable, the organizational imperatives of international actors and aid’s colonial past and present make it difficult at best. Can localization efforts produce locally led humanitarian response? Adopting a power framework, we argue that localization reinforces and reproduces international power; through institutional processes, localization efforts by international actors allocate capacity to, and constitute local actors as, humanitarians that are more or less capable, funded, and involved in responding to crises in the latter’s own countries.

Most governments around the world – whether democracies or autocracies – face at least some pressure to respond to citizen concerns on some social problems. But the issues that capture public attention — the ones on which states have incentives to be responsive – aren’t always the issues on which bureaucracies, agents of the state, have the ability to solve problems. What do these public agencies do when citizens’ demands don’t line up with either the supply of state capacity or the incentives of the central state?

In an interview with the Slovak daily SME, Northwestern Political Science PhD shares his thoughts on the current state of the US primary race. He discusses the seeming inevitability of a Biden-Trump rematch and the consequences that Trump's election in 2024 would have for the security architecture of Europe.

Cody Keenan is a communications expert that formerly served as the White House director of speechwriting and is the New York Times bestselling author of Grace: President Obama and Ten Days in the Battle for America. Join us as Cody shares stories from his time at the White House and beyond, and learn how he tries to manage the chaos of life — from the highest levels of power to the everyday.

The League of Women Voters speaks with Laurel Harbridge-Yong (Professor, Department of Political Science; Faculty Fellow, Institute for Policy Research), Shenna Bellows (Maine Secretary of State), and Jill Goldthwait (journalist and former state senator) to talk talks about the roll-out of semi-open primaries. Maine will be running semi-open primaries for the first time in 2024. We’ll explain to voters what to expect and what important deadlines and new procedures may pertain. And we’ll talk about how semi-open primaries might affect voter behavior and election outcomes.

Thessalia Merivaki is an Associate Professor of American politics at Mississippi State University. Her research expertise is on Election Science, particularly voter registration reform and voter education policy. With Mara Suttmann-Lea, they run team #voteredu. In this episode, Lia tells me about her experiences growing up in Greece, the voting experience she had there, and her transition to the United States for graduate school. Lia tells us how the complexity and nuances of election administration in the United States motivated her to pursue a Ph.D. We reminisce over the Internet bringing us together and the origins of our voter education story, which really began with Lia and a curious, frustrated student in her classroom.

We are happy to announce that two great scholars are joining ERIC as Non-Resident Research Fellows: Prof. Jahara ‘Franky’ Matisek, a military professor at the US Naval War College, and Prof. William Reno, a conflict studies expert and a Northwestern University's department chair.

Alvin Tillery, a professor of political science at Northwestern University, said the idea of Harvard naming another Black woman—put forth by some discouraged allies of Gay—doesn’t have much practical grounding. Tillery said he believed there was little chance of the university choosing a president outside a narrow band of internal candidates who had been prepared for that possibility, with Garber the most obvious choice to remain in the job.

Hostage situations have been on the rise around the world in recent years. From the October 2023 mass kidnapping by Hamas to the rise in hostage diplomacy by Russia and Iran, hostage-taking violence plays an enormous role in international and domestic politics. What is hostage taking, and why does it matter?

The University of Houston’s Brandon Rottinghaus, a 46-year-old Plano native who’s taught political science at U of H for the past 17 years, said the “primary system by design is tailored for candidates to speak only a limited audience. Primary voters in the Republican Party, for example, are older, wealthier and are focused on a narrower range of issues.”

Elemica, a leading provider of Digital Supply Chain solutions and the premier Digital Supply Chain Network for B2B industries, today announces Eric Stine as Chief Executive Officer.

Following a welcome address by Northwestern President Michael H. Schill, consulting curator Smith will moderate a conversation between artists and researchers focused on art, eco-anxiety and resilience and climate science, as well as the importance of cross-disciplinary thinking and problem-solving to effect change. Participants include Dekila Chungyalpa, director of the Loka Initiative, Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Teresa Montoya, artist and assistant professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Chicago; and Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, associate professor in the department of political science, and a faculty affiliate with the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research and a faculty fellow with the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern.

Thailand’s May 2023 general election produced an unexpected alliance between former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the royalist conservative establishment. This was part of the deal to prevent the Move Forward Party (MFP), the election winner widely seen as a threat to the establishment, from taking power. To inhibit the MFP, Thaksin’s Pheu Thai Party was allowed to form the government with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, supported by military-aligned parties and senators. Thaksin was permitted to return to Thailand and granted a partial royal pardon.

The dawn of the new calendar year means that WNBA free agency is approaching. Three years removed from a championship, the eighth-place Chicago Sky hired a new general manager, Jeff Pagliocca, and head coach, Teresa Weatherspoon, this offseason. This free agency period will be vital to restoring the Sky’s championship aspirations. From Jan. 11 to Jan. 20, WNBA teams can offer qualifying offers to reserve and restricted free agent players. On Jan. 21, unrestricted free agents can start talking with teams before officially being able to sign contracts on Feb. 1. The Chicago Sky have an estimated $511,448 in available salary cap room.

More credible ideas for addressing social problems are generated than can be tested or implemented. To identify the most promising interventions, decision-makers may rely on forecasts of intervention efficacy from experts or laypeople. We compare the accuracy of academic experts, practitioner experts, and members of the public in forecasting interventions to strengthen Americans’ democratic attitudes. Results show that academics and practitioners outperformed nonexperts.

Feminist standpoint theorists highlight how relations of power and inequality impact our knowledge of the social world (Smith 1974). The hierarchical positioning of different social groups creates a world in which the experiences and perspectives of certain people are acknowledged while others are silenced (Hartsock 1998; Hekman 1997). Moreover, a researcher’s personal background—her race, gender, class, and sexuality, among other factors—condition what she is able to learn and how (Collins 2000). Together, this literature underscores how the social world—and who we are within it—shapes knowledge production.

Both South Africa and Israel are party to the Convention Against Genocide, a treaty over which disagreements can be adjudicated by the ICJ, Ian Hurd, a political science professor at Northwestern University, told McClatchy News. The treaty “requires all countries to prevent genocide and to prosecute anyone suspected of committing genocide (or organizing it, or attempting it, or conspiring over it),” Hurd said.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) has become a flashpoint of elite political discord, yet how Americans actually perceive CRT is unclear. We theorize that Republican elites utilized a strong framing strategy to re-define CRT as an “empty signifier” representing broader racial and cultural grievances. Using a survey and a pre-registered experiment among U.S. adults (N = 19,060), we find that this strategy worked. Republicans exhibit more familiarity with CRT and hold more negatively valenced (and wide ranging) sentiments toward CRT, relative to Democrats.

Following welcome remarks by Northwestern President Michael H. Schill, consulting curator Smith will moderate a conversation between artists and researchers focused on art, eco-anxiety and resilience and climate science, as well as the importance of cross-disciplinary thinking and problem-solving to effect change. Participants include Dekila Chungyalpa, director of the Loka Initiative, Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Teresa Montoya, artist and assistant professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Chicago; and Kimberly Marion Suiseeya, associate professor in the department of political science, and a faculty affiliate with the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research and a faculty fellow with the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern.

Leonardo Martinez-Diaz is Managing Director for Climate Finance in the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State. Previously, he was Global Director of the Sustainable Finance Center at the World Resources Institute, a leading non-profit conducting research on climate and environment. During the Obama Administration, Martinez-Diaz served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy and Environment in the U.S. Department of the Treasury, as well as Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Western Hemisphere. Prior to that, he served as Director of the Office of Policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Chile’s 2021–22 Constitutional Convention was the first in the world to feature mechanisms that guaranteed gender parity among constituents (Arce and Suárez-Cao 2021). This was not an easy win. Feminist activists and women politicians pushed for gender parity in 2020-21 in a country that had adopted gender quotas relatively late (Figueroa 2021; Reyes-Housholder, Suárez-Cao, and Le Foulon 2023; Suárez-Cao 2023; personal interview #1, April 21, 2023). Reserving seats for Indigenous groups and using other mechanisms to allow space for independent constituents further broadened the convention’s ostensible inclusiveness.

“I view the incident with great sadness,” said Alvin Tillery, professor of political science and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University, who was just one year behind Gay at Harvard. “Claudine was absolutely the top of our field. She was the best graduate student of our generation, or one of the best graduate students in our generation. To watch her be ushered out after six months on the job by sort of restive donors, it really raises questions about whether they were ever going to support her or whether they would ever support any Black woman in the position.”

Ph.D. Mariana Borges joins University of Southampton as a Lecturer.

In a matter of days, homes were vacated, shops closed down, and churches heard their last prayers. The ethnic cleansing of Armenians from their ancestral homelands planned by the Azeri government came to fruition. On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched full scale military attacks on Nagorno-Karabakh (“Artsakh”), an ethnic enclave previously home to 120,000 Armenians. Overnight, they were able to seize the region by force, ending centuries of Armenian existence on the land and a 30-year contention over the region. While many international organizations were shocked by the swiftness of this ethnic cleansing to be carried out in such a methodical manner, members of the Armenian diaspora, like myself, who had been calling for attention in the region, were not.

Not long ago, the eldest son of President Joko Widodo of Indonesia was running a catering business and a chain of dessert shops. Now he is the symbol of a budding political dynasty and the beneficiary of family maneuvering. With the help of a high court ruling led by his uncle, the president’s son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, 36, has emerged as the leading candidate for vice president in next month’s national elections. If his ticket wins, he would become Indonesia’s youngest vice president ever. The machinations have rattled critics, who warn that Mr. Joko is moving to undermine democratic overhauls that were adopted after decades of dictatorship and that helped Mr. Joko himself win the presidency in 2014.

Alvin Tillery, political science professor and director of the Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University, agreed that conservatives are “winning right now.” But Tillery, who is also the founder and chief executive of the 2040 Strategy Group — which consults with Fortune 500 companies on DEI issues — also expects blue states and liberal activists to start filing lawsuits of their own, charging that many companies have not adequately promoted equal opportunity and lack diversity. “There’s a lot of other issues that are going to drop,” added Tillery, who said he knew Gay when they both attended Harvard in the 1990s but did not remain close to her.

This has been a terrible week in the history of Harvard University and the nation. After enduring a racist crusade by rightwing activists, donors, and “academics,” Dr. Claudine Gay, the first Black woman to lead Harvard in its 387-year history, resigned in the face of charges that she did not do enough to combat antisemitism on campus and that she committed plagiarism in some of her academic writings. As I will show in the passages below, both of these charges are absolute nonsense. If the world were just, Dr. Gay would never have been subjected to the repugnant racialized attacks that we have witnessed play out over the past month and she would still have her corner office in Massachusetts Hall.

Sally Nuamah, associate professor of urban politics in human development and social policy at Northwestern University, said the tendency of adults to view Black youth as more adult-like than their white peers can shroud the mental health needs of Black children. In addition, the girls’ own positive behavior can mask their needs: In a study of the WOW program, participants were found to have strong school attendance and at least a B average, even as more than a third showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

U.S. federal laws figure importantly in many research projects in political science, law, sociology, economics, and other disciplines. Despite their prominence, there is no authoritative, current, and comprehensive dataset of U.S. federal laws. In part, this is because such laws have been enacted over hundreds of years, resulting in a complicated patchwork of documents published in numerous and inconsistent formats. As a simplification, many scholars have relied upon selective lists of major legislative enactments or complete lists of relatively recent enactments. Here, I report on an effort to transparently and reproducibly assemble a complete database of US laws and their revision histories by combining data from HeinOnline, the Governmental Printing Office, and the National Archives and Records Administration. The result is a database of 49,746 laws spanning 1789 to 2022.

Professional News: I am happy to announce that I will be a Fellow in International Security at Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals. After finishing my PhD, I knew I wanted to continue the academic journey. Looking forward to this next chapter!