From the Field
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Education Migration: Why Teachers Are Leaving the Profession
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Teacher shortages are a harsh reality in states across the nation. From California to South Carolina, recruiting and retaining teachers is an imminent concern for school districts, parents, and students. These problems are often more pronounced in high poverty, racially segregated (HPRS) schools. In 2000, annual turnover rates for all…
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What Makes Military Dictators Transition Out of Dictatorships?
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Frequent leadership cycles are common in dictatorships. Historically, military dictators, whose power is derived from the armed forces, have been subject to more subsequent coups and regime changes than their non-military counterparts. Given their short-lived tenure, military dictators always have to gauge their fate based on the premise of losing…
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Risks and Regulations of the Sharing Economy
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The concept of a sharing economy, which includes businesses such as Uber and Airbnb, enables people to utilize an item or service without acquiring actual ownership. While its increasing popularity brings benefits to users, it nevertheless poses a number of risks. In his recent study, “Share and Share Dislike: The…
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Toxic Policy: The Impact of the Flint Water Crisis on the City’s Children
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In 2015, reports of elevated lead levels in the city’s water supply put Flint, Michigan into the national spotlight. The state-appointed emergency manager’s 2014 decision to approve municipal use of water from the Flint River, in an attempt to help the cash strapped city cut costs, is thought by many…
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Affirmative Consent: The 21st Century Basis of Sex Regulation
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What is the sex bureaucracy? How has it interacted with social norms to shape regulations regarding sex in the United States over time? In what ways has it changed, and to what extent has its new form retained a variety of bureaucratic elements? Should the public be concerned about unequal…
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Using Social Networks to Predict Gun Violence in Chicago
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As gun violence takes hundreds of lives each year in Chicago, academics, journalists and policy makers continue to debate the merits of viewing gun violence as a public health issue. While organizations like the American Public Health Association advocate in favor, others remain skeptical of extending the term “epidemic” beyond…
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When Does War Transpire? Unlikely War Onset Under Uncertainty
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Scholars have attempted to clarify whether uncertainty about the outcome of a potential war—victory or defeat—influences state behavior in international crises. Until recently, there was consensus that when two states in a bilateral context have equivalent capabilities, and therefore experience high outcome uncertainty, they are more inclined to undergo conflict.…
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Are Economic Elites Anti-Democratic? Why Economic Elites May Support Democratization
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Are economic elites always anti-democratic? Not in some contexts. Structural changes in the Bolivian economy cultivated a new set of economic elites in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They typically supported the right-leaning Hugo Banzer, who led a series of coups against the left-leaning junta and established a tyrannical…
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Causes of War: When the Unknown Creates False Optimism
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Differing estimates and perceptions of opponents’ power may increase the likelihood of war. Countries are generally incentivized to misrepresent their own strength and capabilities, and such stratagems to retain advantage during military bargaining may lead to mutually optimistic perceptions: each state believes it is more powerful than its opponent. As…
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Frenando el acoso escolar: el impacto de políticas contra el bullying hacia estudiantes LGBT
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Cada mañana, muchos estudiantes se levantan con miedo de ir a la escuela por las dificultades que enfrentan al identificarse como lesbianas, gais, bisexuales o transgénero (LGBT). Si bien la aceptación hacia estos grupos ha crecido en las últimas décadas, como sugieren diversos índices, todavía es difícil observar esta tendencia…
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¿Les estamos quitando sus empleos? Nueva evidencia sobre los braceros mexicanos en Estados Unidos
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En el debate político actual, se ha vuelto común la afirmación de que los migrantes en el mercado laboral disminuyen los salarios de los trabajadores locales y les quitan sus empleos. Esta aseveración se basa en la teoría de que, a mayor oferta de trabajo, menor el precio que se…