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Rep. Katie Porter’s University Housing Deal Draws Scrutiny
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Rep. Katie Porter’s University Housing Deal Draws Scrutiny

In Orange County, California, where the typical house sells for $1 million, Rep. Katie Porter’s four-bedroom, three-bath residence in a leafy subdivision on the University of California Irvine campus is a bargain. The progressive Democrat and law professor, who has lamented the cost of housing in her district, purchased it in 2011 for $523,000, a below-market price...

What Are the Seven Virtues of a Healthy Democracy?
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What Are the Seven Virtues of a Healthy Democracy?

People can become involved in politics in a number of ways. They can vote, volunteer in campaigns, or even run for office themselves. But when it comes to improving the state of the U.S. democracy, what can the average citizen do? Christopher Beem, managing director of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State, attempted...

Book Examines Role of Racial Justice Work in Progressive Policy Changes
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Book Examines Role of Racial Justice Work in Progressive Policy Changes

By working together, economic and racial justice organizers in the last decade have brought about policy changes to address economic inequality, researchers report in a new book. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign urban planning professor Marc Doussard and his co-author, Portland State University urban studies and planning professor Greg Schrock, examine grassroots organizing efforts in six cities, including Chicago, in “Justice at Work:...

Belgian Researchers Explain Why People with Lower Economic Status Don’t Trust Politicians as Much
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Belgian Researchers Explain Why People with Lower Economic Status Don’t Trust Politicians as Much

The ‘anomie’ concept – that the society is disintegrating and losing moral standards – explains why people with low socio-economic status trust politics less than those with a higher one, concludes a new study published in the scientific journal Social Psychological Bulletin. The study was conducted by two Belgian researchers, Thierry Bornand (ULB and IWEPS) and Olivier Klein (ULB) in...

The Voting Rights Act Increased Racial Economic Equality That’s Now Diminishing
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The Voting Rights Act Increased Racial Economic Equality That’s Now Diminishing

As many state legislatures consider weakening voter protections and Congress debates new voting rights laws, recent research from the University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management reveals that the 1965 Voting Rights Act contributed to improvements of the economic status of Blacks. Conversely, after the Supreme Court rendered the Voting Rights Act ineffective...

Study Sheds New Light on the Origin of Civilisation
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Study Sheds New Light on the Origin of Civilisation

New research from the University of Warwick, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Reichman University, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and the Barcelona School of Economics challenges the conventional theory that the transition from foraging to farming drove the development of complex, hierarchical societies by creating agricultural surplus in areas of fertile land. In The Origin of the State:...

The Politics of Uber
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The Politics of Uber

New research from City, University of London shows how platform firms (such as Uber or Deliveroo) have adapted to regulations to provide different services and gain infrastructural power. This power – which stems from their position as mediators across a variety of interests – is shaped by pre-existing regulations and the firms’ strategic response of ‘contentious compliance’....

Job Seekers Face Prison Credential Dilemma
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Job Seekers Face Prison Credential Dilemma

New research published March 11 in Criminology by Sadé Lindsay, sociologist in the Cornell Brooks School of Public Policy, finds that the formerly incarcerated face a “prison credential dilemma” when deciding whether to use credential from prison education and training programs when seeking employment. The research article, “Damned if You Do, Damned if You Don’t: How...