Mr. Trump urged uniformed sailors aboard the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford to call their members of Congress to lobby for his military spending plan and his proposed repeal of Mr. Obama’s health care program. Traditionally, the commander in chief does not tell the troops who serve under him to involve themselves in politics or policy battles on his behalf. His comment to the sailors appeared to be ad-libbed, but still troubled security experts. “It was a mistake for the president to make this comment,” said Peter D.… read more about Trump White House Tests a Nation's Capacity for Outrage - Peter Feaver interviewed for the NYTimes »
American politics appears broken. The Republican Party, which is in control of Congress and the presidency, is internally fractured and incapable of advancing a coherent policy agenda. Moderation and compromise, especially across party lines, are political minefields few politicians dare cross. The budget process has become a game of chicken and Washington is unable to address pressing public issues. The current healthcare fiasco is Exhibit A: Held hostage by the fringe of their party, Republican leaders are unable to… read more about A simple fix to encourage bipartisanship in the House - Georg Vanberg writes for The Hill »
Duke historian Nancy MacLean’s recent book “Democracy in Chains” has garnered considerably attention. In separate reviews, Professors Michael Munger and Georg Vanberg respond to Professor MacLean’s controversial thesis, and offer a different perspective on Nobel-prize winning economist James Buchanan and public choice theory. read more about Georg Vanberg and Michael Munger respond to 'Democracy in Chains' »
Peter Feaver, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University, recently served both as interviewer and expert on panels for the Aspen Ideas Festival. "The Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation's premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Some 350 presenters, 200 sessions, and 3,000 attendees comprise the annual… read more about Peter Feaver serves on big think panels at the Aspen Ideas Festival »
Kyle Beardsley's recent book Equal Opportunity Peacekeeping (Oxford), has just been awarded the Book of the Year Prize by the Conflict Research Society. "The Conflict Research Society Book of the Year Prize honours research that is contemporary, exceptional, and world leading, and which provides an invaluable contribution to the literature on conflict and peace studies, very broadly defined. It is an annual prize selected from nominations made… read more about Duke Political Scientist, Kyle Beardsley, wins 'Book of the Year Prize' »
Another vocal critic of Mr. Erdogan’s government is Timur Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University. "I’m spending twice as much time on Twitter writing messages than I normally would because I feel that I have an obligation to do this as someone who is free," he said. The scholars in Turkey who have gone quiet are watching what he’s saying on Twitter, Mr. Kuran said. "It gives them a sense that someone in the world is paying attention and informing the rest of the world about the tragedies… read more about Turkish scholars face decision whether to objecting to Erdogan's politics - Timur Kuran interviewed for The Chronicle of Higher Education »
Approximately 476 students have attended the Ralph Bunch Summer Institute (RBSI) since it’s inception and 56 of those RBSI scholars have earned doctoral degrees. After Duke University's Dr. Paula McClain became Director in 1996, RBSI has produced 48 participants who completed their Ph.D in political science and 8 more who completed doctoral programs in cognate social science fields. There are 36 former RBSI participants who are in academic jobs or postdoctoral fellowships. Click here to view portraits… read more about Ralph Bunche Summer Institute 2017 underway at Duke University »
Matthew McCubbins, won this year's Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Political Science's Section on Political Organizations and Parties. The Samuel Eldersveld Career Achievement Award recognizes a scholar whose lifetime professional work has made an outstanding contribution to the field. Dr. McCubbins will be presented with the award at the annual meeting in San Francisco later this summer. Watch Dr. McCubbin's students give their class presentation on the Syrian refugee crisis. read more about Duke Political Science emeritus Matthew McCubbins wins Lifetime Achievement Award »
We were sad to learn of the passing of Samuel DuBois Cook, professor of political science at Duke from 1966 to 1975. We express our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. "After a short stint in the U.S. Army in 1955, Cook taught political science at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Then, in 1956, he moved to Atlanta University and became politically active working on black voter registration with the local NAACP chapter. As chair of the school's political science department in the early 1960s… read more about Dr. Samuel DuBois Cook, in memoriam »
Today the United States faces a vastly different situation in the region. U.S. troop levels are a small fraction of their Iraq War peak, and chaos and civil war have spread throughout the region. It’s also possible that military officers, chastened by the losses in Iraq, will take a more cautious view. “The conventional wisdom on this is probably wrong,” said Peter Feaver, a senior official in George W. Bush’s White House and professor at Duke University. “Empirically, the military is more reluctant to use force . . . but… read more about Military's clout at White House could shift U.S. foreign policy - Peter Feaver interviewed for The Washington Post »
Jay Bilas, ESPN Analyst and lawyer, delivered an address to Duke University Department of Political Science senior undergrads, graduate program students, and faculty on May 14, 2017. He discussed three themes: everyone knows something you don't know, find people that will be honest with you, and don't take 'special' for granted. Jay received our Distinguished Alumni Award. read more about Jay Bilas, ESPN Analyst speaks at Duke Political Science Graduation »
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) first began operating aid in Somalia back in 1977. Today, one of our Duke political science undergraduates, Rajiv Golla, is reporting from Nairobi on the ICRC Conference for Reuters about the current state of malnutrition and the consequences of the recent drought in Somalia. Rains in Somalia have brought relief from drought but malnutrition remains a threat, the International Red Cross said on Friday, with the number of children admitted to its feeding centres nationwide… read more about Duke Political Science student, Rajiv Golla, reports today for Reuters »
This conference brings together a diverse group of international scholars to address various ways analytical models of politics can be broadened to include “behavioral” concepts, both within and beyond the standard rational choice, game theoretic paradigm. Research presented here features a mix of theoretical, experimental, and other empirical approaches from political science, economics, and related disciplines. Empirical research might test or challenge conventional modeling assumptions, identify the boundaries between… read more about Duke Political Science hosts Behavioral Models of Politics Conference »
Our thesis in our work on economist jokes is that there are really three factors: whether the joke is funny, or insightful, or makes fun of economists. If the unexpected alteration in point of view is too great, seems strained, or violates the internal logic of the joke itself, then we may say, “That’s not funny.” This may mean that the joke is not intended to be funny — though the teller finds it so — because the object is not humor, but rather mockery. And even mockery can be funny if the joke is also insightful.… read more about Economist Jokes: A Typology - Michael Munger writes for Learn Liberty »
As a social entrepreneur and activist, James Ferencsik is committed to tackling major social problems including waterborne disease and youth representation in politics. In 2013, James was awarded the Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship, an undergraduate merit award, to attend Duke. The scholarship is awarded to outstanding students who show promise of being intellectual leaders. During his time at Duke, James spent two years running the Campaign for a Presidential Youth Council, which lobbied Congress and the White House to… read more about James Ferencsik, graduating political science student, profiled on Duke Today »
The legitimate questions about what the Russians were doing cannot be fired away. Indeed, if Comey has damaging testimony to offer, he would seem to be even more of a threat as a former FBI director than as an acting one. Moreover, the hearings for his successor will be dominated by the same topic, and to be credible the next FBI director will have to promise to pursue the investigations no less vigorously than Comey did. I think the way forward (and out) is the same one that struck me as obvious two months ago: a blue-… read more about Firing Comey Makes an Independent Commission Even More Likely - Peter Feaver writes for Foreign Policy »
Timur Kuran, a professor of political science and economics at Duke, said: “It is extremely unusual for a U.S. president to interfere with an investigation involving his own behaviors. It puts at risk checks and balances that are vital to the health of U.S. democracy.” Continue reading here read more about How Abnormal was Comey's Firing? - Timur Kuran sourced for the NYTimes »
On May 4 the House of Representatives passed a poorly understood healthcare bill. The more people learn about it, the less they seem to like it. Maybe that’s why it was so shrouded in secrecy before passage, with barely any analysis of its likely effects or opportunity for public discourse. Oddly, despite the secrecy, the bill might be getting closer to the true, honest positions of some politicians (and their constituents) than prior bills. The reason is that healthcare is not only a policy matter: Many Americans… read more about Healthcare is a moral issue first - David Siegel writes for The Hill »
Michael Ward retired as Professor of Political Science at Duke University. He received a bachelors from Indiana University in 1970, served with the 287th Military Police in the Berlin Brigade from 1970-72, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University in 1977. He soon became the Gordon Scott Fulcher Research Fellow where he worked with Harold Guetzkow from 1977-1979. He then joined the Science Center Berlin, working with Karl Wolfgang Deutsch and others for two years… read more about Professor Michael Ward Retires »
President Trump continues to be unconventional. But he also seems to be adjusting to the realities of the presidency, governing in a more typical way than when he started. That was the conclusion of a panel of experts asked by The Upshot to rate 28 major news events in the administration’s first 100 days for importance and normality. The survey – of 13 experts across the ideological spectrum, who have served in government or studied the way governments work – was a follow-up to one we conducted after President Trump’s first… read more about Timur Kuran and Peter Feaver sourced for NYTimes: "Is the Trump Presidency Getting More Normal? Experts Rate 28 Events" »
The game of chicken is commonly used to describe conflicts between states armed with nuclear weapons. Also referred to as "brinkmanship," leaders of nuclear states know that it is not credible to threaten the initiation of nuclear war, but they try to use the risk of nuclear hostilities to get their opponents to back down. ... But we are just an ultimatum away from a situation in which one side will have to swerve in order to avoid disaster. Moreover, the gameplay in 2017 is especially concerning for at least three reasons… read more about Risky brinkmanship with an unstable North Korean regime, Kyle Beardsley writes Op-Ed »
The selection of Macron and Le Pen for the runoff may be a harbinger of a more far-reaching transformation of the French party system. Scholars like MIT political scientist Suzanne Berger have long argued that as globalization, European integration and immigration have become increasingly salient, the traditional anchors of the French party system, such as class and race, are giving way to a new political cleavage centered on France’s relationship to the outside world — on whether France is an open or a closed society,… read more about Herbert Kitschelt interviewed on political ideology in French Election for The Washington Post »
“They have not yet figured out what they are trying to do,” said Peter Feaver, a professor at Duke University and an adviser in the second Bush administration. “What looks like recalibration might be multiple voices.” In a White House marked by rival factions, it has become difficult to figure out who exactly is in charge of foreign policy. On Wednesday, Trump removed White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon from the National Security Council. The change suggested that national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who has… read more about Trump and his ‘America First’ philosophy face first moral quandary in Syria - Peter Feaver interviewed for The Washington Post »
“[In] early elections, the U.S. was trying to choose how our institutions would work, and famously there was Governor [Elbridge] Gerry of Massachusetts. In the 1812 election [he] had signed off on a map that one of the districts – that his party, the Democratic Republicans would get a seat in the state legislature. And people imagined on the map that it looked like a salamander. So it’s a portmanteau. You take the ‘Governor Gerry and salamander,’ and you get gerrymander,” says Professor Michael Munger. Continue to 1A here… read more about Gerrymandering: America's Most Dangerous Maps? - Michael Munger on NPR's 1A radio show »
U.S. News also announced another set of grad-program rankings it doesn’t update every year, covering fields in the social science and the specialty field of library science. In the social sciences, Duke and UNC both turned in strong showings, particularly for their political science programs, which ranked seventh and 11th, respectively. [...] The two universities also notched high rankings for an assortment of sub-specialities in those fields, with Duke’s political science program showing notable across-the-board… read more about Duke & UNC keep pulling top marks in U.S. News grad-school rankings - The Herald-Sun reports »
Celebrated for the first time by the UN on 8 March, 1977, International Women’s Day serves as a way to mark women’s contributions all around the globe. One area where women’s contributions are particularly worthy of celebration is in United Nations peacekeeping missions. Since the deployment of the first peacekeeping mission in 1948 to 1989, the end of the Cold War, only twenty women served in peacekeeping missions. Since 2000, with the passing of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, women’s participation in peacekeeping… read more about Celebrating International Women Day: women in the changing world of peacekeeping - Kyle Beardsley coauthors »
Peter Feaver of Duke University's Department of Political Science interviewed General Martin Dempsey, Duke Alumnus and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During this April 11, 2016 converation, Feaver and Dempsey discussed the responsibilities of the Chairman, the global threats after 9/11, the broader strategic goals in Iran and Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, Gaddafi's death, the rise of ISIS, training Syrian moderates, Russia's destabilizing maneuvers, the tensions in the South China Sea, and civil-… read more about Watch Peter Feaver interview Martin Dempsey, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff »
Johnston, Christopher D., Howard G. Lavine, and Christopher M. Federico. 2017. Open versus Closed: Personality, Identity, and the Politics of Redistribution. Cambridge University Press. Debates over redistribution, social welfare, and market regulation are central to American politics. Why do some of us prefer a large role for government in the economic life of the nation while others prefer a smaller role? In Open Versus Closed, the authors argue that these preferences are not always what they seem. They show how… read more about February Duke Political Science Publications »
“A national security adviser has to successfully manage three key constituencies: first and foremost his relationships with the president, but also his relations with other senior officials in the West Wing, and with Cabinet officials in various agencies,” says Peter Feaver, who served on theNational Security Council under President George W. Bush and directs Duke University’s Program in American Grand Strategy. “In the case of General Jones, at some point it became clear that as an outsider he was unable to break into that… read more about The Most Dangerous Job in Washington, Peter Feaver interviewed in Politico »
China is widely viewed as a global powerhouse that has achieved a remarkable economic transformation with little political change. Less well known is that China's leaders have also implemented far‐reaching governance reforms designed to promote government transparency and increase public participation in official policymaking. What are the motivations behind these reforms and, more importantly, what impact are they having? This puzzle lies at the heart of Chinese politics and could dictate China's political trajectory for… read more about China's Governance Puzzle - Edmund Malesky coauthors new book »