Paul Musgrave, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst,  uses game theory to explain why most Senate Republicans won’t vote to convict twice-impeached former President Donald Trump, which would ban him from ever again holding federal office. Comparing the Senators’ choice to the game theory scenario known as the “Stag Hunt,” Musgrave writes, “Even though they would all be better off as a group by disqualifying Trump, each of them is best off voting to acquit and letting the others bear the costs of voting to convict.”

Professor Charli Carpenter is featured this week in the 50th Anniversary issue of Foreign Policy. Her article, "When US Foreign Policy Went Wrong," analyses the worst foreign policy ideas of the past 50 years and offers an analytical blueprint for evaluating foreign policy. Citing numerous political science studies including those of UMass Political Science professors Paul Musgrave and Meredith Loken, she argues that "perhaps the very worst U.S. foreign-policy idea of the past 50 years has been the abandonment of the myriad good ideas America once fought for—and the institutions that promote them." In a live webinar @ Foreign Policy magazine with Dan Drezner this week on the future of foreign policy, Carpenter also provided views on the events at the Capitol on January 6. "It's right to be unsettled, this was a sacred civic temple being invaded, but I think what we saw was also very heartening: bipartisan repudiation of this behavior instantly, electoral votes were counted, instigators were sanctioned including the President. I would argue our institutions are surprisingly resilient and we may be witnessing the birth pangs of a more perfect union that many of us aspire to."

Alexander Theodoridis, Associate Professor of Political Science at UMass Amherst, with co-authors, writes that the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building underscores the bipartisan effect of dehumanizing language.  They say, “Dehumanization is more than just disagreement or incivility, it is the express denial of humanity (for example, calling Kamala Harris a ‘monster’ or using the term ‘DemoRATS’) and is associated with a host of consequences, including acceptance of violence against its targets.” They cite an Oct. 2020 UMass Poll that found that 85 percent of partisans rated those in their party as “more evolved” than those in the opposing party.  (NBC News, 1/17/21; WWLP, 1/19/20)

Paul Collins (Professor of  Legal Studies and Political Science), Raymond La Raja (Professor of Political Science) and Amel Ahmed (Associate Professor of Political Science), of UMass Amherst are each quoted in coverage exploring the constitutional possibilities of removing President Donald Trump from office following the violent storming of the Capitol by his followers on January 6.