DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

"It's expected that they will be doing something pretty similar to what ICE has been doing in the past, which would be culling lists of people who have existing deportation orders targeting them and then showing up with far more numbers of agents then would be necessary to just arrest that one person, but rather for the purpose of trying to interrogate and snag a lot of other people who might be in the vicinity - either people who are living with the person or people just in a building that is shared with somebody who's targeted. So they might have one name, but then they'll try to collect dozens of people."

Pero hoy, el reguetón también nos recuerda lo que significa vivir en países marcados por una fuerte dependencia de potencias extranjeras, atravesados por las venas abiertas de la herencia colonial y el mestizaje. Es la banda sonora de territorios fragmentados por diferencias de toda índole, pero también profundamente ricos en tradiciones que resisten y dialogan con las tensiones de un mundo globalizado.

""One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter." This phrase has long encapsulated the problem of trying to intervene in another country. For the United States, this enigma has embroiled its diplomatic and strategic actions for centuries. Yet, since the end of the Cold War, the US has been so committed to upholding the liberal rules-based order that it has largely eschewed the use of non-state actors, such as rebels and militias, in executing foreign policy. This must change. In the Cold War 2.0 era, the United States must prioritize rebels and other non-state actors as the primary tool for countering adversaries and their respective proxy forces."

On Monday, January 20th, Donald Trump will become the second President to serve two non-consecutive terms. Ahead of inauguration day, WGN's Micah Materre spoke with Dr. Jaime Dominguez, Political Science Professor at Northwestern University, about what a second Trump Presidency could look like.

Thailand’s 2023 general election reveals a political landscape undergoing significant transformation, where the traditional Bangkok-versus-countryside political dichotomy has given way to more nuanced urban-rural electoral dynamics unfolding within individual provinces and constituencies.

"Krcmaric and his colleague Stephen Nelson, also an associate professor of political science at Northwestern, question whether the 2024 election—and the participation of superwealthy individuals—represents a change. “We don’t have data right now to suggest out of the total pool of billionaires how many are currently serving in politics,” Nelson told Barron’s. But the composition of Trump’s incoming team “seems to be skewed more heavily toward ultrarich people, which suggests the U.S. is moving in a particular direction.” This shift raises a question: “Do they know something that the rest of us don’t know, which is that maybe the rule of law is weaker than we all think and that proximity to the Trump administration is the best way to protect one’s wealth?” Krcmaric says.

Dani Gilbert, assistant professor at Northwestern University, discusses what a ceasefire and hostage release may look like between Israel and Hamas.

In recent years, scholars have theorized that one factor enflaming public divides over science and technology is moralization: an individual’s perception that their position on an issue is rooted in fundamental moral right and wrong. In this article, I provide evidence for this proposition across five pre-registered hypotheses about the divisive attributes of moralized attitudes in the context of science and technology. Using public opinion data in the United States on three issues—combating climate change, developing gene editing therapies for humans, and labeling genetically modified food—this study demonstrates that moralized attitudes have the potential to exacerbate resistance to scientific evidence and hostility between those with opposing positions.

“Imagine a kid who's 9 or 10 years old and goes in there, and maybe that's not the world view that their parents have told them about, and they feel like, ‘Oh, OK, well, I guess I don't really belong here. I guess I'm not really part of this community,’” said Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, a Northwestern University professor of political science and professor and chair of religious studies.

Actors gushing “I’ve always wanted to direct” has become a cliché. But Whitney White’s arc has been different. Her ambitions for the stage were long focused on performing. It wasn’t until she was nearly 30 that she leaned into directing. What followed was a quick rise to the A list. Less than a decade into a career on the other side of the footlights, the Chicago native scored a 2024 Tony nomination for her Broadway debut, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. Now Chicago Shakespeare Theater remounts the slice-of-life comedy, opening a three-week run January 14. The cast will be new, but White returns, along with her Tony-winning design team. “I can’t say enough how important it is to me that this show is coming to Chicago Shakes,” she says. “It really feels like a homecoming. One of the first theater classes I ever took was with [CST artistic associate] Bob Mason.”

You say that today, oligarchs aren’t always where we expect to find them… Jeffrey Winters: When people hear the word “oligarch”, they think of Eastern European or Russian oligarchs – they don’t think of Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates. Why? Because in recent decades, there has been a concerted effort to define oligarchs, not based on the power they have, but on the source of their fortunes. If you become wealthy in a corrupt way and you use your wealth in politics, then you’re an oligarch. So if you are a “legitimate” wealthy person, you are what is in the US today called a “donor” or a “mega donor”. This is a very interesting political use of language : these wealthy people are not, strictly speaking, making donations, because a donation is something altruistic.

"Short Summary: His research examines how different types of criticism affect judicial legitimacy - the public's enduring trust in courts as institutions. Through careful survey experiments in the Czech Republic, he finds cautious but encouraging evidence that negative portrayals of court decisions - whether as partisan tools or elite institutions disconnected from the public - do not significantly reduce public perceptions of legitimacy in the short term, even in relatively newer democracies. The findings suggest that undermining courts may require more than isolated rhetorical attacks - perhaps sustained campaigns against judicial authority or a pattern of partisan decisions by the courts themselves.

Matej Jungwirth is a PhD candidate in Political Science in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. His research explores the impacts of territorial loss and displacement, aiming to illuminate the experiences of displaced communities and guide the development of policy solutions. Matej’s work spans global contexts, including a current project on Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic. He is the recipient of many awards including the Buffett Institute Graduate Research Fellowship.

Can norm-based information campaigns reduce corruption? Such campaigns use messaging about how people typically behave (descriptive norms) or ought to behave (injunctive norms). Drawing on survey and lab experiments in Ukraine, we unpack and evaluate the distinct effects of these two types of social norms. Four findings emerge: First, injunctive-norm messaging produces consistent but relatively small and temporary effects. These may serve as moderately effective, low-cost anti-corruption tools but are unlikely to inspire large-scale norm transformations. Second, contrary to recent studies, we find no evidence that either type of norm-based messaging “backfires” by inadvertently encouraging corruption. Third, descriptive-norm messages emphasizing corruption's decline produce relatively large and long-lasting effects—but only among subjects who find messages credible.

Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie today announced the six staffers on his communications and community relations team, four of whom worked side-by-side with Lurie during his successful mayoral campaign.

Tai Brown is a PhD student in Northwestern's Political Science Department. His research interests are situated within the fields of international relations, international law, and comparative politics, with a regional focus in Southeast and East Asia. Currently, he is developing a research project investigating transitional justice in South Korea and Taiwan. Prior to beginning his graduate studies at Northwestern University he completed two bachelor's degrees in Asian and Asian American Studies and Political Science at the University of Connecticut, and a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Ming Chuan University in Taiwan. In his free time he loves reading manga, watching anime, skateboarding, and playing video games. Tai can be reached at: tarifbrown2029@u.northwestern.edu