Tim Büthe coordinated his seminar course, "The Law and Politics of Market Competition in a Global Economy" through a field trip to Washington, D.C. on March 28 and 29, with the generous support of the Program on American Grand Strategy. This focused itinerary (click here for event photographs) included visits with federal government officials in the two antitrust enforcement and competition policy agencies (the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission), one of the… read more about Tim Büthe leads seminar field trip to Washington, D.C. »
Peter Feaver and Bruce Jentleson debate contemporary issues of national security and foreign policy. The entire series of Foreign Exchange Debates is available on YouTube. read more about History in Cuba; Terror in Brussels - Another episode of Foreign Exchange Debate »
In Geneva, Switzerland, Prof. Tim Büthe opened the 2nd workshop of the project on Rethinking Stakeholder Participation in Global Governance, which he co-directs with Swiss colleagues Joost Pauwelyn, Martino Maggetti, Ayelet Berman and Theresa Carpenter. It is part of an ongoing collaboration of Duke University with the Graduate Institute, Geneva, and the University of Lausanne, funded by the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS) and led on Duke's behalf by the Department of Political Science. … read more about Tim Büthe co-chairs conference on Rethinking Stakeholder Participation in Global Governance »
Peter D. Feaver, a political science professor at Duke University, signed a letter from top Republican national security leaders objecting to Mr. Trump earlier this month and said he was confounded by the advisers that the candidate ultimately came up with. “I think that normally, the front-runner for a Republican presidential campaign, by March of the campaign year, has assembled a team that is more distinguished than this,” said Dr. Feaver, who was a national security adviser in the George W. Bush and Bill Clinton… read more about Top Experts Confounded by Advisers to Donald Trump - Peter Feaver interviewed for The New York Times »
Whatever the outcome of the race for the White House, the entire American establishment, including career politicians, the super-rich, academia, the press, the high professions, big business, and major civil society organizations, now has fair warning that the stability of the American system of governance requires addressing the problems of groups that have not shared in the fruits of globalization. To dismiss the cries of Trumpists (or of Bernie-fans) merely as expressions of bigotry or prejudice is to be in denial.… read more about You Can’t Keep a Lid on Discontent Forever - Timur Kuran writes for Cato Unbound »
“Before, the National Assembly wasn’t so much part of the national consciousness,” but this year’s crop of independents draws from a far wider cross-section of society, said Edmund J. Malesky, a Vietnam specialist and a professor of political economy at Duke University. Continue reading the main stor Professor Malesky said that the independents were younger than ever and that many were discussing their platforms with a degree of openness that is rare in the one-party state. Debates in the National Assembly had become… read more about In One-Party Vietnam, Independents vie for Assembly Seats - Edmund Malesky interviewed in The New York Times »
But if Trump fails to win a majority of delegates, the logic is equally clear: securing a plurality of the vote (or delegates) does not provide Trump with any special claim to legitimacy, nor does it give him the mantle of “the people’s choice.” In this case, a brokered convention that denies him the nomination is not a coup in which the party’s establishment thumbs its nose at the electorate. On the contrary, such an outcome can represent the preferences of many voters, and have an equally powerful claim to be “democratic… read more about Think a ‘brokered’ convention is undemocratic? Think again. - Georg Vanberg writes for The Washington Post »
The authenticity deficit in American politics is very real. But it is not a product of politicians alone. It is a social ill whose perpetrators are also its victims, and vice versa. People astonished at why Sanders and Trump have resonated with huge blocs should look in the mirror and ask when they themselves last sat down with someone who holds an uncomfortable contrary opinion, for an honest dialogue on finding a middle ground. Continue reading here read more about The Authenticity Deficit in Modern Politics - Timur Kuran writes for Cato Unbound »
The Democrats’ reaction was priceless. In effect, they said, “Wait! We didn’t mean to ignore race completely!” David Lewis (R, NCGA-53), co-chair of the redistricting committee appointed by the Republicans, rather gleefully responded: “The only way to make sure race is not predominant is to make sure it is not a factor.” What did the Democrats think was going to happen? Continue reading here (column on page A8) read more about Race to the Bottom - Michael Munger writes column for North State Journal »
In his terrific book, Private Truths, Public Lies:The Social Consequences of Preference Falsification, Timur Kuran writes about the phenomenon he calls “preference falsification”: People tend to hide unpopular views to avoid ostracism or punishment; they stop hiding them when they feel safe. This can produce rapid change: In totalitarian societies like the old Soviet Union, the police and propaganda organizations do their best to enforce preference falsification. Such regimes have… read more about A Trump wave is on the way? Journalist cites Timur Kuran's research »
“One of the things that is so striking is we have turnout rates in these states that’s absolutely tiny,” says political scientist Sunshine Hillygus. “This is where the establishment recognizes that just because Donald Trump wins a percentage of the primary voters in a given state does not at all mean that it’s going to translate in a general election.” Continue reading here read more about Who is going to win Super Tuesday? Sunshine Hillygus interviewed »
Peter Feaver and Bruce Jentleson meet again for another episode of Foreign Exchange a national security and foreign policy debate series. This time, they try to determine and predict Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump's foreign policy positions. Peter Feaver is a professor of political science and public policy. From 2005-07, he was special advisor for Strategic Planning and Institutional Reform in the Bush White House. Bruce Jentleson is a professor of public policy and political science. He was a senior… read more about Foreign Exchange Debate: a new episode available »
The ultimate goal is this balance of power in the Madisonian sense, but we need to account also for a much larger, expansive concept of what counts as power in a more Foucauldian sense....In terms of reasonable accommodations...if we replace the limited frameworks that we tend to use when we think through these issues, like rights and freedom, with this more comprehensive framework, we're necessarily going to have to take into account, a wider range of concerns. And this is going to yield better debates on the issue, where… read more about Madison meets Foucault: Samuel Bagg outlines his dissertation »
“Justice Scalia has anchored the conservative side of the court. Now, with him gone, you have a much divided court, so the stakes are very high for both parties to get that fifth vote,” said Duke professor Kerry Haynie. Watch the WRAL footage here “That Justice Scalia has died before a decision on the appeal has been announced very likely means the General Assembly will be required to redraw new congressional districts and have them approved by the federal court before any election for Congress can take place in… read more about Kerry Haynie interviewed by WRAL and Charlotte Observer about the upcoming Supreme Court nomination battle »
Original source: Duke Today Perhaps the most fundamental action political parties take is to choose their nominees for political office. These nominations are, of course, often hotly contested, and the way the parties choose their nominees is almost as often hotly contested. In fact, contesting the rules of nomination have been a fact of life for American political parties virtually since the Founding. The Democratic-Republican Party (the early form of today’s Democratic Party) and the Federalist Party,… read more about John Aldrich traces the history of the presidential nomination process »
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) began as an interdisciplinary degree program at Oxford in 1924, and ninety years later it has spread to well over a hundred universities around the world as either a major or minor area of study. The original idea was, in part, to provide future civil servants in the United Kingdom with an opportunity to become generalists by exploring public policy through the different lenses of complementary disciplines. Over the past few decades, as PPE made its way to the United… read more about Why PPE? »
Tearful refugees landing on European shores. Terror in Paris, San Bernardino, Beirut, Istanbul and Jakarta. Gruesome calls to action and videos of beheadings in Iraq and Syria. From its financing and recruitment to the catastrophic human rights consequences of its reign of terror, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has commanded global media attention since the “caliphate” was established in June 2014. But according to four experts who spoke at Duke Wednesday about the growing security and refugee crisis, the… read more about Scholars Discuss the Origins, Consequences and Responses to ISIS »
Michael Munger, a political science professor at Duke University, points out that there's not much difference between Hillary hitting the dab on Ellen and Bill Clinton hitting the sax on The Arsenio Hall Show back in 1992. The problem for Hillary, Munger said, is that her campaign's gimmicky voter outreach seems to have taken the place of a broader argument for her candidacy. "Clinton either can't be bothered or just isn't able to come up with principles that unify the… read more about Vice News interviews Michael Munger »
It’s been a good year for Jay Ruckelshaus. After completing his certificate in philosophy, politics, and economics last spring, Jay used the summer to hone his writing sample and apply for the Truman, Marshall, and Rhodes scholarships. The chance of winning one of them is astronomically small, but Jay won all three. He was surprised, I was not. He also wrote a widely circulated op-ed about the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and put his words into action by helping make Duke… read more about Life, Luck, and Laughter »
From Duke Today: Duke University senior Emma Campbell-Mohn of Westport, Connecticut, has been selected for the first class of Schwarzman Scholars and will study for one year at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Campbell-Mohn is among the first 100 recipients, out of 3,054 applicants, chosen for this scholarship. The Schwarzman Scholarship gives scholars the opportunity to develop their leadership skills through a funded one-year master’s degree in public policy, economics or international studies. Scholars… read more about Political Science undergrad awarded international scholarship »
After one full year and 2,306 submitted photos, Duke community members from across campus and the globe have thoroughly shared the way they see Duke. Dec. 31 marked the end of “Document Duke 360,” a yearlong, crowd-sourced project that invited students, employees and alumni to contribute to an ongoing visual conversation about Duke. From Durham to China, 194 photographers had their work selected as a “photo of the day” while nearly 1,500 people followed daily posts on the Document Duke 360 Instagram account.“When… read more about Year Long Document Duke Project Complete »
To ask candidates to explain what they would do in the abstract is thus only to give them the opportunity to explain what they would do if they were omnipotent, an absolute ruler able to do anything he or she wished. Such questions only give Americans the opportunity to live for a moment in the dream of a world populated by people just like them. What question then should real journalists ask? There is really only one, and they should ask it over and over and insist upon an answer, interrupting candidates when they… read more about Here's the question journalists should ask of candidates - Michael Gillespie »
... the other side wins if this is viewed as Muslims versus the West. So while that is how the terrorists view it and that is the rhetoric, we have to be careful not to reinforce that rhetoric. Continue reading here read more about Peter Feaver interviewed for The Huffington Post on Obama's strategic relations »
Aaron Roberts, a recent Duke Ph.D., published in The Review of Politics. Roberts' research interests concern the intersection of contemporary, normative political theory and the history of political thought. “Political theology” is now a fixture within political theory's lexicon. Although Carl Schmitt's Political Theology (1922) is identified as the contemporary locus classicus for the concept, that work's primary task is only to elaborate a “sociology of juristic… read more about Carl Schmitt—Political Theologian? - Aaron Roberts »
The Laboratory for Unconventional Conflict Analysis and Simulation (LUCAS) sponsored Duke students to present their research at the International Studies Association Midwest division held their annual conference held on 19 to 22 November, 2015, in St. Louis, Missouri. Students from Political Science, Asia and Middle East Studies, International Comparative Studies, and Dr. Rivera’s Public Policy course on Iranian Grand Strategy, participated on two LUCAS sponsored panels. The first panel focused on Iran and Hizb’allah’s… read more about Duke students dominate annual International Studies Association Midwest Conference »
What accounts for low-intensity intergroup violence? Laia Balcells explores this question, focusing on the case of Northern Ireland, in new research available here and a summary here. Overall, our micro-level study of contemporary interethnic violence in Northern Ireland suggests that segregation and physical separation of groups is generally not a solution to ethnic violence. By impeding regular interaction, segregation worsens intergroup trust and increases threat perceptions. Threat perceptions… read more about The determinants of low-intensity intergroup violence - Laia Balcells »
Jay Ruckelshaus, who majors in Political Science, and Laura Roberts, who minors in Political Science, both won Rhodes Scholarships this year. According to DukeToday, they were chosen "from among 869 applicants at 316 colleges and universities throughout the country, and are the 44th and 45th students in Duke's history to receive a Rhodes Scholarship." Duke's Political Science faculty were overjoyed to hear their students' acclaim. And two faculty, who taught and mentored Jay and Laura, have these… read more about Two Duke Political Science students win Rhodes Scholarships »
The Society for Empirical Legal Studies is an "international organization of scholars interested in empirical legal studies." Their annual conference was launched in 2006, "in response to the growing level of empirical scholarship in laws schools and elsewhere." Professor Matthew McCubbins is part of the inaugural class of SELS Fellows 2015-2016. McCubbins is perhaps best known for the argument that legislative majorities, whether they be the dominant legislative party or a coalition parties… read more about Professor McCubbins elected as a Fellow of the Society of Empirical Legal Studies »
POLSCI 101 at Duke University provides a broad introduction to politics from the local to the global level. We will explore empirical analysis and political philosophy to understand the relationship between politics, law, and economics--and other fundamental and timely questions in political life, such as: What is the nature of power and how is it related to authority, legitimacy, and ethics? What is a state? And are we experiencing the rise of serious competitors to the modern state as the dominant form of political… read more about New Undergraduate Course - Introduction to Political Science »