DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

"The media plays a fundamental role in any democracy, and all eyes are on the news on Election Day. From traditional news anchors, to independent reporters on Twitter, we have minute to minute election updates available right at our fingertips. But this overabundance of information can easily lead to confusion, misinformation, and the creation of echo chambers. Join our panel of experts: Mara Suttmann-Lea, Asst. Prof. of American Politics at Connecticut College; Christine Stuart, Editor at CT News Junkie; Belinha de Abreu, President of the International Council for Media Literacy; and Jerrod Ferrari, Director of Earned Media & Senior Account Manager at The Narrative Project who will discuss the role of news coverage and social media on Election day and the days leading up to it, and how we can protect ourselves from disinformation and find trustworthy sources.

"The Graduate School at Northwestern University and the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Success are honored to announce the following students have been selected to become Bouchet Honor Society members. 2025 inductees Tochukwu Dominic Eze, doctoral candidate, Computer Science Jojo Galvan-Mora, doctoral candidate, History Tiffany M. Mays, doctoral candidate, Life Sciences – Driskill Graduate Program (DGP) Eden Melles, doctoral candidate, Political Science Tre Wells, doctoral candidate, Human Development and Social Policy Anthea Weng, doctoral candidate, Life Sciences – Driskill Graduate Program (DGP)"

Under which conditions do social movement coalitions factionalize under parallel, and possibly contending, frames? We argue that social movements split along opposing collective action frames when development paradigm shifts create distinct opportunities or threats for factions within the coalition. Rooted in historical marginalization, these shifts impact factions’ responses unevenly, shaping how they frame their demands to align with evolving policies. Through a multi-method research design combining critical event analysis and postcolonial historiography, we show that previously united Campesino and Indigenous movements diverged into competing class- and ethnic-based frames in Colombia’s 1970 s in response to the rollback of redistributive land reform under Pastrana’s administration.

This article addresses recent work on empire and colonisation which calls for a reappraisal of how agency and resistance manifests among groups responding to structural marginalisation. We argue that approaching these questions from within the colonial order reveals important idiosyncrasies regarding how groups understood resistance, agency, and popular organising as possible responses that emerged from within imperial landscapes. Using the example of race as a central regulatory category and practice of colonial power, we analyse two cases which we suggest benefit from an account of agency and resistance within colonial order: the Black Loyalists in English America and the Indigenous royalists of New Granada, two groups which pursued emancipation by choosing to remain under colonial rule.

Before a congressional committee Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson defended his city’s status as a “sanctuary city” — a jurisdiction that guides local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more.

Moments before President Donald Trump delivered his address to Congress in the House chamber on Tuesday night, Rep. Lance Gooden (R-Texas) snatched a sign from the hands of Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), who held up a paper that said “This is NOT normal” in protest of the current administration. And there’s a lot to take away from that moment, according to an expert.

In a heated Land Use Commission meeting last Wednesday, resident after resident stepped up to the podium to provide their suggestions and complaints on the second draft of Envision Evanston 2045, a widely debated comprehensive and rezoning plan.

As the Trump administration moves forward with plans to gut U.S. foreign assistance programs, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, now also serving as acting administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), said the moves are necessary to ensure that every dollar spent abroad “furthers our national interest.” One area of USAID’s work that critics point to as “wasteful” is the agency’s LGBTQ program. In fact, these efforts comprise a critical part of the U.S. foreign policy toolkit and help ensure that more prosperous and stable societies exist to advance U.S. interests abroad.

There is a greater shift toward open science. Sharing sensitive and qualitative research data may present ethical and practical challenges for researchers aiming to promote openness. This webinar will discuss real-world dilemmas and innovative frameworks to address issues arising in qualitative research. Our speakers Professor Rebecca Campbell, Dr Sharon Cox, Dr Sebastian Karcher and Professor Alex Stevens will highlight a methodological approach for handling sensitive narrative data, developed through work with interviews involving vulnerable populations. We will explore broader issues in research, such as publication decisions, prioritising editorial work, and navigating the 'prestige game' associated with non-open-access journals.