Governance

Mathematical models that predict policy-driving scenarios – such as how a new pandemic might spread or the future amount of irrigation water needed worldwide – may be too complex and delivering ‘wrong’ answers, a new study reveals. Experts are using increasingly detailed models to better predict phenomena or gain more accurate insights in a range...

Firearm suicide among minority youth has steeply risen over the past decade Examined 694 patients ages 5 to 17 during primary care visits with 47 doctors Study suggests ways to improve implementing the program during a larger trial A secure firearm storage program in which pediatricians engage with parents on the importance of secure storage...

Watch any episode of “CSI,” and a character will use forensic DNA profiling to identify a criminal. A new study from San Francisco State University suggests that these forensic profiles may indirectly reveal medical information — perhaps even those of crime victims — contrary to what the legal field has believed for nearly 30 years. The findings...

A new paper in the Journal of the European Economic Association, published by Oxford University Press, indicates that the extension of voting rights can reduce political violence. The researcher finds this by looking at the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Political scientists have long debated the effect of enfranchisement on violence and political outcomes. In...

Police in the U.S. deal with more diverse, distressed and aggrieved populations and are involved in more incidents involving firearms, but they average only five months of classroom training—the briefest among 18 countries examined in a Rutgers study. According to the data, the rate of fatal police shootings in the United States in 2019 (3.1 per...

Whether Black people’s political knowledge is accurately reported in survey research depends on the race and skin tone of the interviewer conducting the assessment, according to a new study co-authored by a Georgia State University researcher. The findings raise questions about how to ensure that political science research accurately captures the knowledge and attitudes of diverse...

After two years of considerable improvement, Americans’ knowledge of some basic facts about their government has fallen to earlier levels, with less than half of those surveyed able to name the three branches of government for the 2022 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey. The Annenberg Public Policy Center’s annual, nationally representative survey showed notable increases in...

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...

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...