Amel Ahmed, Associate Professor of Political Science, has a new article on The Conversation about the often-overlooked work of local election administrators. As Ahmed writes, election officials are usually overworked, underpaid, and feeling pressure from multiple sources, especially in small, undersupported jurisdictions. Ahmed also commented on NPR and in The Times in advance of the midterm election. She told NPR, “The fate of democracy really hinges on whether or not losers accept defeat and whether they recognize losses as losses.” Ahmed adds, “I believe the focus on the machinery of elections has obscured a different threat to the nation’s elections: Local election administrators work under increasingly difficult circumstances, with dwindling resources and mounting challenges.” (The Conversation, Times-Union, WBTW, Milwaukee Independent, StudyFinds, NPR, The Times 11/07/2022)

Tatishe Nteta, Provost Professor of Political Science and Director of the UMass poll, is quoted in a story on Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit to Massachusetts to campaign for Democratic candidates Maura Healey, Kim Driscoll and Andrea Campbell, who are running for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general, respectively. “Many Democrats aren’t that excited about this slate of candidates,” Nteta says, adding that Harris’ appearance will remind voters about the women-led ticket. “These are historic firsts,” he says, calling Harris “the embodiment of a historic first” as the first Black and female vice president. (Axios.com, 11/3/22)

Eve Weinbaum, Labor Studies and Sociology, and Dean E. Robinson, Professor of Political Science, were featured on episode 10 of the Class Matters podcast, "Millionaires Tax on the Ballot in Massachusetts." Weinbaum and Robinson spoke with Adolph Reed Jr. about MA Question 1 and strategies for state-wide organizing to unite working people. (Class Matters Podcast)

Lindsey Guenther ’21 and Paul Musgrave have published a peer-reviewed article together in Journal of Global Security Studies entitled “New Questions for an Old Alliance: NATO in Cyberspace and American Public Opinion”. The article uses survey experiments to understand how Americans understand the NATO Article 5 collective self-defense commitment as extending to cyberspace—an open question, given that the Article 5 commitment was initially designed only to extend to “armed attacks”. It finds that the public does believe that there are circumstances under which the United States should come to the aid of an ally facing Russian cyberattacks. It also finds that having a treaty commitment substantially increases support for that assistance. The project grew out of Lindsey’s Honors thesis and was funded in part by a CHC research grant.