Faculty Books
Where Great Powers Meet: America and China in Southeast Asia
David Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science, and International Affairs, examines the competition between China and the United States, while also making predictions about their future relationship. Shambaugh effectively pushes back against the narrative that China will be the "inevitable" dominant power with the United States's "inexorable" decline.
How Insurgency Begins: Rebel Group Formation in Uganda and Beyond
Janet Lewis, Assistant Professor of Political Science, examines how and why rebel groups initially form through investigating the ways in which rumors circulating in places where rebel groups form can influence civilians' perceptions of both rebels and the state. Lewis reveals hows how ethnic networks facilitate the spread of pro-rebel rumors.
Curbing the Court: Why the Public Constrains Judicial Independence
Brandon Bartels, professor of political science, and Christopher Johnston present a new theory of how citizens perceive the Supreme Court. The public seeks to limit the Court's powers when it is politically expedient, particularly during times of heightened political division. Bartels investigates the ways in which judicial institutions are vulnerable to the influences of politics.
The Gender and Security Agenda: Strategies for the 21st Century
Michael E. Brown, professor of political science, looks at gender dynamics in relation to international and national security challenges. In examining security issues such as terrorism, armed conflict, environment, human rights, and more, Brown looks at their impact on gender issues.
Politics for Profit: Business, Elections, and Policymaking in Russia
David Szakonyi, professor of political science, examines Putin-era Russia to illuminate the reasons why businesspeople enter the political sphere and the consequences of these actions for their firms and society at large. Szakonyi provides evidence that businessperson candidacy is a response to both weak political parties and economic competition. These candidates help their firms gain in profitability, at times to the detriment of human capital.
China and the World
David Shambaugh, professor of political science and international affairs, edited this comprehensive volume exploring China's contemporary roles in international affairs and foreign relations. In examining the impact of China's past and present, both domestically and internationally, the contributors also offer challenges that China may endure in the future.
Planning to Fail: The U.S. Wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan
James Lebovic, professor of political science and international affairs, examines the United States’ failed efforts to intervene in wars around the globe since World War II. Lebovic traces the pattern of doomed interventions through Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Of Privacy and Power: The Transatlantic Fight over Freedom and Security
Henry Farrell, professor of political science and international affairs, investigates how the United States and the European Union have navigated their differing approaches to freedom and security in the face of issues like global terrorism and growing data networks. Abraham Newman co-authors.
Developments in Russian Politics 9
Henry E. Hale, professor of political science and international affairs, contributes to this collection of essays from international experts discussing contemporary politics in the world’s largest state. Hale also co-edited the volume.
Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin America
Cynthia McClintock, professor of political science and international affairs, provides a rigorous assessment of the implications of runoff rules in presidential elections throughout many Latin America nations. She compares them to plurality rules and demonstrates that, in contrast to early scholarly skepticism about runoffs, they have been positive for democracy in the region.
God's Country: Christian Zionism in America
Samuel Goldman, assistant professor of political science, combines original research with insights from the work of historians of American religion to craft a provocative narrative that chronicles Americans' attachment to the State of Israel. He looks at the controversial special relationship between the two nations through the story of Christian Zionism in American political and religious thought from the Puritans to 9/11.
America's Middlemen: Power at the Edge of Empire
Eric Grynaviski, associate professor of political science and international affairs, examines how and why the U.S. government has formed alliances with militias, tribes and rebels. Sometimes, these alliances have been successful. But they have also risked creating larger wars in regions where the United States has no real interest. By developing broader views about political agency—how people come to make a difference in world politics—he brings into focus new histories of world politics.
Money for Votes: The Causes and Consequences of Electoral Clientelism in Africa
Eric Kramon, assistant professor of political science and international affairs, looks at examples of politicians distributing money to voters during campaigns in low-income democracies and develops an alternative theory of electoral clientelism beyond “vote buying.” Instead, he emphasizes the role of monetary handouts in conveying information to voters, helping politicians enhance the credibility of their promises to deliver development resources and particularistic benefits to their constituents.
Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era
Danny Hayes, associate professor of political science, co-authored this book which offers a unified argument for understanding the role that gender plays in contemporary congressional elections. The book argues that the declining novelty of women in politics, coupled with the polarization of the Republican and Democratic parties, has left little space for the sex of a candidate to influence modern campaigns.
The New Arab Wars: Uprisings and Anarchy in the Middle East
Marc Lynch, professor of political science and international affairs, illuminates how the hope-filled Arab uprisings morphed into a dystopia of resurgent dictators, failed states and civil wars. He details the costs of the poor choices made by regional actors, delivers a scathing analysis of Western misreadings of the conflict and condemns international interference that has stoked the violence.
The Star and the Stripes: A History of the Foreign Policies of American Jews
Michael N. Barnett, professor of international affairs and political science, examines how American Jews envision their role in the world. As Jews, he argues, they are committed to their people's survival. As Americans, they identify with, and believe their survival depends on, the American principles of liberalism, religious freedom and pluralism.
Accidental Activists: Victim Movements and Government Accountability in Japan and South Korea
Celeste L. Arrington, Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, examines the politics of redress to understand why victims of government wrongdoing are not equally effective at obtaining redress. She compares the Japanese and South Korean movements of victims of harsh leprosy control policies, blood products tainted by hepatitis C and North Korean abductions.
China's Future
David Shambaugh, professor of political science and international affairs, examines whether China will implement a new wave of transformational reforms that could make it the world's leading superpower, or whether its leaders will shy away from drastic changes. He argues China’s future path depends on key decisions yet to be made by its leaders, pressures from within Chinese society and actions by other nations.
Urban Neighborhoods in a New Era: Revitalization Politics in the Postindustrial City
Robert P. Stoker, professor of political science, co-edited this collection of studies by distinguished political scientists and urban planning scholars offering a rich analysis of shifts in North American cities, showing how politicians and philanthropic organizations now see economic growth and neighborhood improvement as complementary goals.
Constructive Illusions
Eric Grynaviski, assistant professor of political science and international affairs, argues that when nations mistakenly believe they share a mutual understanding, international cooperation is more likely and more productive than if they had a genuine understanding of each other's position. Grynaviski shows how such constructive misunderstandings allowed for cooperation between the U.S. and the Soviet Union between 1972 and 1979.
Orgies of Feeling: Melodrama and the Politics of Freedom
Elisabeth Anker, assistant professor of American studies and political science, argues that American politics is often influenced by melodrama narratives from cinema and literature. This book focuses on the role of melodrama in the news media and presidential speeches after 9/11.
The Politics of Nation-Building: Making Co-Nationals, Refugees, and Minorities
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Harris Mylonas explores the factors that drive states to assimilate, accommodate, or exclude groups within its territory in his leading work on the influence of international politics on nation-building. This book explains how the politics of ethnicity at the international level determine how different ethnic groups fare in the politics of their home states.
Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America
Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Stephen Kaplan explores whether markets and democracy are compatible with a focus on the developing nations in Latin America. By combining statistical tests and extensive field research, Kaplan examines the effect of financial globalization on economic policymaking, and challenges the conventional wisdom that political business cycles are prevalent in newly democratizing regions.
The Arab Uprising
Deeply informed by inside access to the Obama administration’s decision-making process and first-hand interviews with protestors, politicians, diplomats, and journalists, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Marc Lynch highlights the new fault lines forming between forces of revolution and counter-revolution, and how it can affect American policy. The result is an indispensable guide to the changing lay of the land in the Middle East and North Africa.
When Victory Is Not an Option: Islamist Movements in Arab Politics
Throughout the Arab community, Islamic political movements are becoming a part of the electoral process, evoking both enthusiastic and alarmed reactions from observers. Professor of Political Science and International Affairs Nathan J. Brown analyzes the Islamic political movements in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Palestine, examining their evolving structure and ideological values and how their growing involvement in the electoral process might impact the Islamic political system.
