Announcements
- Willamette University and Portland State University announced the Direct Admissions Initiatives for current PSU students and alumni. Read the announcement here and learn more about the initiative here.
- Congratulations to Sarah Califf for the honor of Outstanding Foreign Minister Award, at the West Coast Model European Union Summit 2021! Only 2 students are honored this award, so it's a significant achievement for Sarah! The West Coast Model European Union Summit is organized by the Center for West European Studies at the University of Washington. Political Science Professor Robert Asaadi is this year's PSU Faculty Adviser for this event who mentored our students through this Summit. Here are this year's participating students, their majors, and the role at the Summit: Sarah Califf (International & Global Studies: International Development) (Foreign Minister, Spain) Mohammed Mohammed (International & Global Studies: Middle East Studies) (Foreign Minister, Ireland) Taylor Paraboschi (Political Science) (Foreign Minister, Slovenia) Teri Walters (Communication Studies) (Head of Government, Ireland) Read about the event here!
- Melody Valdini, Ph.D and Department Chair of Political Science receives the 2020 Victoria Schuck Award for the best book published on women and politics. This award is granted annually by the American Political Science Association (APSA). "Melody Valdini’s new book The Inclusion Calculation changes the way we think about gender and politics. This book shifts the focus from the institutional, structural, and cultural factors that impact women’s representation to the interests and incentives of male gatekeepers. She asks, “Why and under what circumstances do members of the ‘in’ group allow and even encourage members of the ‘out’ group to be in the government?” While Valdini acknowledges that there may be some ‘angels’ who work for gender equality even if it is not in their own interests, most politicians are rational opportunists who do not explicitly oppose women in politics, but also do not actively work towards inclusion. She argues that women’s representation is the result of a calculation of the costs and benefits to male gatekeepers of including women. The theoretical sections of the book clearly outline the factors that affect this calculation." To read the full article, click here!
Recent Publications
Benstead, Lindsay, Ph.D
Dr. Lindsay Benstead participated in a project to help shape the debate on education reform in the Arab World. Learn more about it in reading the book chapter in The Political Economy of Education in the Arab World: The Recipe to Make Schools Less Bad: La recette pour que l'école aille moins mal ! - African Manager
Poverty, Inequality and Corruption: Explaining Variation in Educational Quality in Tunisia | Wilson Center
And an audiovisual book review: نبذة عن الكتاب الصادر مؤخرا لهشام علوي و روبرت سبرينغبورغ - YouTube
Robert Asaadi, Ph.D
Postrevolutionary Iran: The Leader, the People, and the Three Powers, published by Lexington Books
Abstract: How is Iran governed? Is the state accountable to its society? How have Iran’s political institutions evolved since the 1979 revolution? In short, Postrevolutionary Iran: the Leader, the People, and the Three Powers argues that the answers to these critical questions are neither as certain nor as fixed as much of the existing literature on this topic would lead one to believe. Part 1 of the book (chapters 1–3) analyzes what Iran’s Constitution refers to as “the Three Powers”: the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government along with the unique mediating institutions of the Guardian and Expediency Councils. In each chapter, the author describes the unique structure and function of the governing institution as outlined in Iran's Constitution, then explains how the institution has evolved in practice over time. Several trends emerge from this analysis, including, among others, the growing influence of the military in politics, the expanding power of the Guardian Council at the expense of the parliament, and the widening asymmetry of executive power favoring the supreme leader at the expense of the president. In Part 2 of the book (chapters 4–6), the analytical focus shifts from Iran’s formal political institutions to consider instead the relationship between state and society more broadly, with chapters on Iran's military and economic structure, social movements, and public attitudes and the media. Finally, in the concluding chapter, the author offers a comprehensive view of what this analysis of Iran’s political institutions in theory and practice reveals about both the resilience of Iran’s political system and its capacity for meaningful change
Stephanie Erev, Ph.D
Echo Critique and Thought as a Force of Nature, published in New Political Science Volume 42, 2020 issue 4 Beyond Citizenship and the Nation-State
Safia Farole, Ph.D
Farole, Safia. 2020. “Eroding Support from Below: Performance in Local Government and Opposition Party Growth in South Africa.” Government and Opposition, 1- 20.
Abstract: How does support for opposition parties grow in dominant party systems? Most scholarship on the rise of competitive elections in dominant party regimes focuses on elite defections from the ruling party and coordination by opposition parties as key explanations, but there is less focus on how politics at the local level contributes to opposition victories. This article argues that effective service delivery in local government helps opposition parties grow support in local elections. Examining the case of the Democratic Alliance (DA) in South Africa, this article provides a systematic analysis of local elections and opposition party performance. Using an original data set of electoral, census and spatial data at the lowest electoral unit in South Africa (the ward), this article shows that in the areas where it is the incumbent party, support for the DA grows as the delivery of basic services to non-white households improves, and when DA-run wards outperform the neighbouring ones run by the ruling African National Congress party, support for the DA increases in neighbouring wards. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of how local politics erode dominant party rule.