University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Ray La Raja, Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst and Associate Director of UMass Poll, is cited in an opinion piece about inexperienced candidates running for political office. According to the piece, research by La Raja “shows that more and more candidates without experience, especially Republicans, are running for office, frequently challenging incumbents. And all too often they’re winning.” (Los Angeles Times, 7/8/21)

A recent UMass Amherst Poll is cited in a number of articles discussing a potential third term for Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker. The poll, which asked about Baker’s popularity among Republican voters in hypothetical matchups against likely opponents, showed Baker with double-digit leads over the current field of Democratic challengers. (Gloucester Daily Times, 7/2/21; News Office release)

Jesse Rhodes, Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst, has co-written an opinion piece about the importance of same-day voter registration in the voting rights debate. According to the piece, “evidence shows that same-day registration can help remove racialized obstacles to voting in our political system and advance a more inclusive democracy.” (The Hill, MSN, 7/1/21) 

Tatishe Nteta, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the UMass Amherst Poll, is quoted in an opinion piece exploring the role white people have played in racism in America. In reference to the concept of reparations, Nteta explained “for opponents of reparations, it is not about the cost or the difficulty of the policy, but about perceptions of the worthiness of the contemporary recipients of cash payments.” (The Root, 6/30/21)

Ray La Raja,Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst, is quoted in a column analyzing the results of first-ballot voting in the Democratic primary election for mayor of New York. La Raja says, “There has been a growing education and age divide in the Democratic Party beyond racial divisions. In the past it was white ethnics — Italians, Irish and Poles living in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens — who supported the Tammany-style politicians. Today it is Hispanics and Blacks … supporting [front runner Eric] Adams, who leveraged his shared background with voters, with ties to powerful political institutions, much like Tammany." (The New York Times, 6/30/21)

New research from Jesse Rhodes, Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst, finds that states with same-day voter registration have higher turnout among Black and Latinx voters. Rhodes and a colleague from the think tank Demos report that data from 23 states plus the District of Columbia showed Black and Latinx turnout is 2% to 17% higher in states with same-day registration than in states without. (MassLive, 6/29/21; News Office release)

Angélica Bernal's article "Ecuador's Dual Populism: Neocolonial extractivism, violence, and Indigenous resistance," was published in the Special Issue on Populism of the journal Thesis Eleven. This article examines the confluence of extractivism, violence, and their resistance in the context of left governance in Latin America – specifically the case of Ecuador – through an engagement with the concept of populism. Alongside Bolivia and Venezuela, Ecuador has long been associated with the rise of radical populism and with it an ‘autocratic turn’ in Latin America. Dispensing with overdetermined accounts of populism as either the anti-thesis or essence of democracy, this article proposes a third lens – dual populisms – to better grapple with the neocolonial turn toward intensified natural resource extraction and violence. With the expansion of extractive industries, and its accompanying violence increasingly becoming a global phenomenon, dual populisms posits a third position – one that is at once top-down, state centered, and also bottom-up and social movement focused – to better account for the complex dynamics at work within this turn. (Sage Journal, 6/15/2021)

 

Tatishe Nteta, Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst and Director of the UMass Poll, was interviewed on the National Public Radio program “All Things Considered” regarding a recent UMass Poll about whether the U.S. government should pay reparations to the descendants of Black slaves.  According to the poll, 62% of respondents feel the government definitely or probably should not pay reparations, while 38% think the government definitely or probably should pay reparations. Nteta talks extensively about the poll results with UMass alumna Audie Cornish on the “All Things Considered Podcast”. (NPR, 6/18/2021)  

 

Alexander Theodoridis, Associate Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst and Associate Director of the UMass Poll, was recently interviewed on the topic of party polarization, in relation to an April 2021 UMass Amherst/WCVB poll found which found that two-thirds of both partisan Democrats and partisan Republicans believe that many members of the other party are “downright evil.”  Theodoridis said that “we have seen partisanship become aligned with all sorts of different other identities.” (WCVB-TV Boston, 6/8/21; News Office assistance)

A recent UMass Amherst Poll is cited in an opinion column in The Boston Globe about the proposed Fair Share Amendment, which, if passed by the Legislature, would impose a 4% surtax on the wealthy in Massachusetts. The March poll found that 65% of respondents support this measure. (Boston Globe, 6/9/21)

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