Political Science Research Articles

Would teaching gender as core, not boutique, move us closer to the SDG gender equality goal?

ABSTRACT The Sustainable Development Goals, through Goal 5 on Gender Equality, put gender as a focus at the heart of every endeavour. Yet with 2030 looming, across the globe, we have made insufficient progress towards gender equality. Despite a plethora of mentions of the aim to achieve gender equality in regional and international documents, progress is slow (see https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2022/09/progress-on-the-sustainable-development-goals-the-gender-snapshot-2022 and https://pacificdata.org/dashboard/sdg-5-gender-equality). What can be done? If transformative change is required, then a range of options needs to be explored. Could expanding exposure as to who studies gender be just one tool for building a pipeline of actors who take a gender lens when engaging with key issues, and speeding up progress towards the gender equality goal of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG Goal 5)? How should we rethink the teaching of gender and development? My proposition is that gender should be mainstreamed in every course through a revised curriculum as a practical lever for change and to hasten progress towards Goal 5. The hope is that this paper can encourage conversation both in gender and development circles and the scholarship of teaching and learning, and prompt new lines of research and action towards rethinking the teaching of gender and development, which can then strengthen the knowledge base in the pipeline of political decision-makers and development actors. This paper is a call to action for the repositioning of gender at the heart of all studies – not as an elective or “boutique”, but as core to every subject.

A political economy analysis of the income inequality-CO2 emissions nexus in Canada

ABSTRACT Our study investigates the association between income inequality and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Canada, using data from 1981 to 2021. We employ the autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing approach to cointegration. The central finding is a positive long-run cointegrating relationship between changes in the share of income of the top 1% and changes in CO2 emissions. Specifically, a 1% increase in the share of income of the top 1% is associated with a 0.07% increase in CO2 emissions. This finding, which aligns with the political economy argument and the Veblen effect, has significant policy implications. One is that it underscores the importance of considering income redistribution in the context of addressing environmental degradation in Canada.

To compete or strategically retreat? The global diffusion of reconnaissance strike

The reconnaissance strike complex is synonymous with modern military power, and prominent realist theories would have predicted rapid proliferation after its successful debut in the Gulf War. Instead, the complex has proliferated slowly. To explain this puzzle, we theorize that interstate security threats significantly impact proliferation, but not in the way traditionally presumed. Although the literature on weapons proliferation has largely assumed a monotonically increasing relationship should hold between the capabilities of a state’s adversaries and a state’s own capability, we draw from the economics literature and game theoretic insights from political science to argue that the relationship should resemble an inverted-U. When states have rivals with moderate reconnaissance strike capabilities, they have security incentives to compete with them. However, when states face highly advanced adversaries, it becomes more difficult to escape or match their competition, making symmetrical acquisition less appealing. While most prior research focuses on narrower aspects of the reconnaissance strike complex like missiles or smart bombs, we test our theory on a novel dataset tracking country-level acquisition of eight aspects of the complex from 1980 to 2017: Ballistic missiles; bombers; cruise missiles; fighter aircraft; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets; precision-guided munitions; satellites; and submarines. We find strong support for our inverted-U argument. States that have rivals with moderate reconnaissance strike capabilities have over double the reconnaissance strike capabilities themselves than states that have rivals with very low or very high capabilities. Our findings hold for broader measures of the complex that closely proxy a state’s general military capabilities, narrower measures of the complex, and alternative measures of general military sophistication, indicating our theory has broad applicability. This article explains why some states invest heavily in conventional capabilities despite an already-large lead over their adversaries, and why other states instead opt to invest in alternatives rather than balancing symmetrically.

Science Fiction in the Post-occupation Iraqi Short Story in English Translation

English translations of Arabic literary works have interacted with -and possibly influenced- the Western context of science fiction literature. This thesis investigates how the English translations of post-occupation Iraqi short stories possibly contributed to the evolution of the Western science fiction genre. The study seeks to explain the relationship between post-2003 Iraqi literary works -that are a diverse range of corpus- as well as the possible influence of their translations and their counterparts in Anglophone literary systems. The research particularly focuses on Iraq +100 and The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq by Hassan Blasim. Blasim’s edited anthology, Iraq +100, is a prominent element in this study as it is analyzed to illustrate the interrelation between Arabic science fiction and Western traditions of this genre of fiction. As the roles of this edited anthology and short story collection are addressed and discussed in terms of the interaction between Anglophone and Arab literary systems, the study discusses the science fiction theories of Thomas Lombardo (2006) and Darko Suvin (2010). The primary objective of this study is to analyze the two selected books as they are introduced to the Western world and scrutinize how these books can be considered as a response to the evolution of the science fiction genre. Moreover, the translated works of post-occupation Iraqi short stories deal with the political and social impacts of the situation in Iraq after 2003. This thesis follows up by proposing that the anthologized English translations of these Arabic post-occupation Iraqi texts have contributed to the making of a dialogue between Arab and Western cultural and literary canons as well as traditions. The study also analyzes the short stories of the Iraqi writers, as illustrative of a specific expression of post-2003 Iraqi fiction that depicts the terror of violence in Iraq by delivering scenes of excessive violence in their texts. All in all, this study appears as an interdisciplinary work as it engages with translation studies, literary studies, history, and in a way, political science.

Federal Aid to Women and Children: The Children’s Bureau, the Social Security Act, and Political Development Victories and Failures

Federal Aid to Women and Children: The Children’s Bureau, the Social Security Act, and Political Development Victories and Failures

Interventions to enhance mental health and wellbeing among international college students: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol

Background International students contribute significantly to both the economy and the intellectual and cultural landscape of host countries. Their interactions with domestic students foster personal, socioeconomic, and political development, promopting a broader understanding of diverse cultures and values. This highlights how crucial international education is for staying competitive globally. However, international students often face challenges such as poor mental health, linguistic and cultural barriers, acculturative stress, and limited health literacy. Therefore, supporting their academic success and well-being on college campuses is essential. This protocol aims to describe strategies used to evaluate the effect of interventions on international students’ mental health and wellbeing and propose directions for future research based on the evidence. Methods We will conduct an extensive search in several databases including CINAHL, PubMed, Web of Science, PsyInFO, ERIC, and Google Scholar with no date limits. Two reviewers will independently screen the literature and extract data. We will then conduct meta-analyses of the extracted data. Discussion To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first systematic review with meta-analysis focusing on interventions to enhance mental health and wellbeing among international college students. This study will provide most updated empirical evidence on the effects of interventions aimed to improve international students’ mental health and wellbeing. The findings from this study will summarize the importance of a range of interventions being available to international students who experience psychological distress and the effectiveness of each intervention. This study will also highlight the gap for researchers to focus on for future studies. Trial registration PROSPERO registration number: CRD42024528767.

Adult emergency education: the tacit andragogical fight against the COVID-19 pandemic

Adult education has yet to fully develop its potential for addressing social states of emergency. As an initial stride towards a critical adult emergency education, this paper investigates andragogical aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In pursuit of this objective, varying levels of tacit andragogisation concerning the pandemic are examined: 1. The (tacit) andragogical means employed by political leaders (in Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Austria) in their speeches at the beginning of the pandemic. 2. An examination of the interplay between the Chancellor’s addresses, the media appearances of scientists, and the regionalisation of pandemic measures in Germany. 3. Memes posted online as a public response to the government’s (tacit) andragogical approach. The data, consisting of political speeches, science podcasts, newspaper articles, and memes sampled throughout 2020, was analysed using the Documentary Method. These empirical analyses contribute to advance scholarship on critical adult emergency education.

Коррупция как явление и понятие: политологический анализ

The article, based on international documents and Russian regulatory legal acts on corruption, explains and substantiates the political nature and nature of corruption. To this end, three dimensions of corruption are revealed: criminological, sociological and political science. At the same time, it is emphasized that the political science dimension is integrative: it contains both criminogenic and social dimensions. Corruption can and should be studied in economic, moral, legal, and other contexts. However, it is crucial to start from the premise that any manifestations of corruption always unfold within the coordinates of the political realm. Corruption is a political phenomenon. The article defines and characterizes the political features of corruption, offering an original perspective on corruption as a phenomenon and concept. Overall, the article attempts to elucidate the relationship between the phenomenon and concept of corruption, and how corruption impacts the institution of state power and governance.

Cancel culture: Heterodox self-censorship or the curious case of the dog which didn’t bark

There is widespread concern that academic freedom is threatened by growing demands for intellectual conformity and attempted censorship from intolerant zealots. Student protests over the Israeli–Hamas conflict have intensified fierce debates about freedom of expression on campuses. This study seeks to understand the nature and scope of contemporary threats to academic freedom of expression worldwide, especially the role of self-censorship in this process. The first part unpacks the notion of a ‘cancel culture’ in academia. The research explores processes of self-censorship where scholars are unwilling to express their authentic views in public. Mechanisms theorized as potentially driving these processes include heterodox status (cultural minorities out of step with orthodox views); institutions (constitutional principles, laws, and regulations used by the authorities to govern academic speech); culture (attitudes towards free speech); and academic status (inequalities in academic power and security linked with gender and age). To examine these mechanisms, the second part sets out the research design. It draws upon survey data from the second World of Political Science survey (WPS-2023), monitoring the background and attitudes of almost 2000 political scientists living and working in around 100 countries worldwide. The third part analyzes the results, confirming the reluctance of heterodox scholars to challenge majority views. The conclusion in the fourth part summarizes the findings, considers their broader implications, and discusses the next steps in the research agenda.

Looking Back and Looking Forward: Reflections on 20 Years of the Journal of Political Science Education

The 20th Anniversary Special Issue of the Journal of Political Science Education reflects on the achievements of the journal and its emergence as a vital platform for political science educators to share innovative teaching practices, discuss views on the profession's changing nature, and underscore the essentiality and vitality of teaching and learning to the profession.

Raced and gendered inequities in the discipline of political science

Raced and gendered inequities in the discipline of political science

Человеческий потенциал как основа совершенствования политико-административной элиты: концептуальные основы исследования

The article is devoted to the review and systematization of approaches to the analysis of human potential and human capital as the basis for the development of political and administrative elites in modern scientific discourse. It is shown that the theoretical developments of the concepts of “human potential” and “human capital” in economic science laid the substantive and conceptual foundations for the use of these categories in a broad interdisciplinary field. The article states the relevance of the concepts of “human potential” and “human” capital for understanding the effectiveness of the functioning of all components of the social system, including the political sphere. The author differentiates concepts and defines human potential as the foundation for the development of a particular industry, and human capital as a result of development; defines the features of the political science approach, which focuses on the human potential of management structures, implemented within the framework of the political process and the development of political and administrative decisions in the conditions of socio-political transformations. Raises the question of the possibility of using an interdisciplinary approach in the process of developing a conceptual model for the study of human capital as the basis for the development of the political and administrative elite in order to develop practices and technologies for its expansion.

Conceptualizing religion and religious ideology in political science research: what is in a name and what description can do

Conceptualizing religion and religious ideology in political science research: what is in a name and what description can do

“Magical math hand‐waving”

AbstractPolitical risk forecasting is an industry that provides specialized analysis to a range of clients, including insurance companies, extractive industries, governments, defense ministries, and NGOs. Risk forecasters aim to help their clients mitigate risks by anticipating political developments that could threaten their investments and assets, especially in the “emerging markets” of the Global South. What can ethnographic analysis reveal about this industry's knowledge practices and how it transforms open‐source intelligence into commercially relevant risk forecasts? Based on five years of work experience as Senior Africa Analyst at a commercial intelligence firm, I examine how forecasters select and process risk‐relevant events, narrate them as qualitative risk briefs, and finally assign them quantitative risk scores. Through a close reading of a risk firm's internal guidelines and its daily practices, I show how analysts construct risk in African countries in line with entrenched sociopolitical imaginaries, reproducing the coloniality of finance.

Cultural criminology, counter-extremism and the contemporary far right

This article draws together existing criminological work as well as developments from sociology, political science and media studies to argue that cultural criminology can offer a useful corrective to current ‘counter-extremist’ thinking about the contemporary far right. The first part of the article introduces the contemporary far right, describes how it differs from previous instances, and explains that this resurgent far-right movement has to date primarily been analysed through the lens of ‘counter-extremism’. The second part of the article problematises the concepts of ‘extremism’, ‘radicalisation’ and ‘terrorism’. The article argues that these concepts are ambiguous, imprecise and normative, and that they are freighted with ideological baggage and unsupported by empirical evidence. The third part of the article argues that cultural criminology can better inform our understanding of the contemporary far right owing to its focus on subculture and style, its attendance to networked digital media and its foregrounding of emotion and affect. The article concludes by outlining a tentative programme for cultural criminological research into the contemporary far right.

Business, Conflict, and Peace: A Systematic Literature Review and Conceptual Framework

AbstractThere is growing recognition that business activity can promote peacebuilding, yet contradictory claims have emerged about company roles in peace and conflict. The research field of business and peace has focused on this issue, as have scholars in related fields like political science, economics, law, and ethics. This has led to definitional variations, alongside unit and level of analysis differences, which generate contradictory claims that hamper future research on this critical topic. To reconcile extant research around companies and their place in peacebuilding scholarship, we undertake an organizational‐level examination of the field, cataloguing the research by scholars across disciplines through a systematic review of 215 publications. Our review maps the known ways by which businesses can engage in peacebuilding, while demonstrating how organizations exercise their agency to create heterogenous effects on peace and conflict. Our analysis highlights the need for businesses to advance peace‐positive ends across a range of activities to reduce the conflict‐causing effects of business. By showing that businesses, intentionally or not, create peace or conflict through their activities, this article issues a call to action for scholars and decision‐makers to advance knowledge concerning peacebuilding organizations.

RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE IN THE CONTEXT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

The article examines the importance of developing a cultural background as an accompanying tool for learning Russian as a foreign language. The complexity in this regard may be the organizational component for solving the problem due to the insufficient level of attention to it. The article is of interest to those who make decisions on the organization of the educational process, both at the level of universities and government departments, as well as to students and specialists in the field of political science, international relations, pedagogical and philological sciences.

Environmental conflicts in the mass media: insight from the media representation of ecological distributive conflicts (EDCs) in Italy

ABSTRACT Despite the increasing prominence of local ecological-distributive conflicts (EDCs) as subjects of social science research in recent decades, interaction between the media and territorial conflict has remained overlooked, still requiring further investigation. Indeed, there is currently a lack of systematic, up-to-date analysis of the relationship between the media and ecological-distributive protests that goes beyond the investigation of NIMBY narratives to provide a general overview of territorial protest representations and their implications for conflict. Based on the application of Political Claims Analysis to the national newspaper, la Repubblica, and its reporting of six Italian local EDCs, this article aims to discuss the ambivalent representations of territorial protest in the media, while also highlighting the implications of different narrative patterns for the values and perspectives embedded in public opinion. The twofold aim is to investigate the media’s narrative strategies with regard to local protests and their evolution throughout the mobilizations and to assess how the cultural context influences the likelihood that different messages will gain support. This investigation is crucial not only for filling the existing gap regarding the relationship between media and the ongoing spread of EDCs in Italy, but also for grasping broader dynamics concerning media management of environmental conflict, something that is becoming increasingly relevant to both the political and media spheres.

Analyzing pro-vax discourse during the pandemic: techno-scientism, elitism, anti-populism

ABSTRACT This article investigates pro-vax discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic. Expert and political discussions about the pandemic are abundant, commonly focusing on anti-vax and science-skeptic politics and further connecting them with post-truth and populism. However, research on pro-vax discourse remains largely overlooked. The article focuses on the case of Cyprus which received little scholarly attention in the context of the pandemic, especially by political science and media and communication scholarship. Applying discourse analysis to 120 media units that connect the articulations of scientific experts, politicians and journalists, empirical findings show that the discursive management of the pandemic takes place in the name of science, reason and responsibility, with key mechanisms of persuasion being the moralistic and fear-mongering narratives that place the responsibility for the return to normality on individual citizens. This highlights that communication about COVID-19 is not merely about healthcare and science. Rather, it is politicized and disciplinary in nature. The examination of the case of Cyprus alongside existing theories and debates reveals the internationally salient character of discursive features and patterns including the hegemony of techno-scientific objectivism, epistemological elitism and anti-populism.

Tracer Study of the Bachelor of Arts Graduates of the University of Cebu-Main Campus from 2019-2024

This study determined the factors influencing job placement among graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Cebu-Main Campus between 2019 and 2024, serving as a basis for proposed curriculum enhancements. The study used descriptive research design methods with the adopted-modified questionnaire, with frequency counts and percentages applied to analyze the results. Findings reveal that graduates, particularly those from the Psychology, Political Science, and English programs, are highly employable, whether through direct applications or referrals. Key factors influencing job choices include career challenges, salary, and benefits. The study also highlights a notable gender disparity, with most female graduates and a steady increase in graduates during the study period, peaking in 2024. Although the employment rate is high, most graduates occupy rank-and-file positions, with fewer advancing to managerial roles. Also, many graduates eventually shift to fields unrelated to their studies, indicating a potential mismatch between education and career progression. Graduates identify communication, human relations, problem-solving, and critical thinking as essential skills in their professional roles. These insights suggest the need for curriculum adjustments to align education with long-term career success better.