Catholics are the largest religious group in the United States comprising roughly 23% of the population. While they are concentrated in the Northeast, there are also sizable populations of Catholics throughout the upper Midwest (the Rust Belt) and elsewhere. Historically, both the Democratic and Republican parties have sought the Catholic vote, since the religious group…
Politics, Groups, and Identities, managed by the Western Political Science Association, is one of political science’s leading academic journals. The journal editors put together a micro-syllabus and an accompanying introduction, published in the Washington Post’s “Monkey Cage.” The reading list is un-gated and free to read through August 2020. “Here’s How to Teach Black Lives…
The public outcry following the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed, and countless others, the numerous images capturing police brutality, and the Executive Branch’s activation of the Insurrection Act of 1807 to mobilize federal forces against American protestors, invites scholars, educators and the public to reconsider the standard relationship between state,…
Ajay Verghese on the continued importance of foundational texts in the political science classroom.
By Dr. Benjamin R. Knoll This year’s Kentucky primary election will take place on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020. Below are answers to all the questions you wanted to ask about the primary but were too afraid to ask. When are the primary elections? While originally scheduled for May 19th, the primary election was postponed to…
William Winecoff’s exercise asks students to simulate the negotiation process of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2012. Students represent different countries and institutions involved in the crisis and seek to reach agreement. This follows two lectures on the subject, as well as several sets of readings, so that they have the relevant background information….
Political analysts and commentators have frequently described Donald Trump’s political communication and rhetoric as unprecedented. Yet during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Trump’s communication and rocky relationship with the press has come under new scrutiny. In the past, playing politics in the midst of a crisis has been taboo, but it is impossible to ignore…
Eric Loepp shares his Spring 2020 survey results covering student experiences with the sudden transition to online learning.
What do a clam bake in Crisfield, Maryland, a Fourth of July parade in Windsor Heights, Iowa, and a minor league baseball game in Jacksonville, Florida have in common? They all represent public social events in specific geographic locations. Candidates running for state or local office often travel extensively, attending an array of events to…
High turnout matters. It is one of the three key indicators of good democratic performance of a country as famously identified by Powell,[1] and its absence is often seen as an indicator of generalized political malaise and entrenched cynicism.[2] If the decision to mobilize is, ultimately, an individual one, few would argue that the nature…