Governance

When Donald Trump formally announced his presidential candidacy in a June 2015 speech, he declared, among other comments, that “when Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” referred to Mexican immigrants as rapists, and reiterated his intention to build a wall at the border. What impact did Trump’s remarks have on normalizing expressions...

In the last decade, thousands have been killed or injured as a result of mass violence in the United States. Such acts take many forms, including family massacres, terrorist attacks, shootings, and gang violence. Yet it is indiscriminate mass public shootings, often directed at strangers, that has generated the most public alarm. Now, 41 scholars...

The number of political candidate television advertisements that refer to guns increased significantly across four election cycles in U.S. media markets, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study, to be published in the February issue of Health Affairs, analyzed more than 14 million televised...

The United States currently averages 20 mass shootings per year. Researchers from Michigan State University measured the extent to which mass shootings are committed by domestic violence perpetrators, suggesting how firearm restrictions may prevent these tragedies. Under federal law, when people are convicted of domestic violence misdemeanor crimes, they are prohibited from purchasing and possessing...

Rich countries vary a lot when it comes to health and social problems. A comparison of social ills ranging from intentional homicides to obesity rates in 40 rich societies shows that Asian and European countries fare much better than Anglophone and Latin American countries. The most problem-ridden countries are Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and the...

Highlighting female achievements in the workplace makes capable women significantly more likely to want to be the boss, a study shows. Public feedback about a woman’s performance can significantly increase her willingness to lead, even in male-dominated environments, according to the research. The teams led by these women are subsequently more likely to perform well....

With the 2020 elections looming and amid continuing concerns over social media’s role in U.S. politics, four top universities have published a comprehensive new report recommending how candidates, tech platforms and regulators can ensure that digital political campaigns promote and protect fair elections. The report, Digital Political Ethics: Aligning Principles with Practice, was developed by Johns Hopkins,...

When protesters use social media to attract attention and unify, people in power may respond with tweeting tactics designed to distract and confuse, according to a team of political scientists. In a study of Twitter interactions during Venezuela’s 2014 protests, in which citizens voiced opposition to government leaders and called for improvements to their standard...

A new poll shows that Democrats and Republicans do not see eye to eye on the US economy or the state of its government—nor do young adults and seniors. According to the results, which come from 1,000 responses to a 24-question survey conducted online on October 10 and 11, 77% of self-identified Republicans in the US...