1,000 R.I. lives lost to the coronavirus — how do we make sense of it? (commentary by Michael Kennedy)
July 24, 2020 Providence Journal
Michael Kennedy offered commentary on the 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in Rhode Island.
Urban Governance
News & Research
Raimondo signs the state budget, but isn't entirely happy about it (comments by Wendy Schiller)
July 8, 2019 The Boston Globe
Wendy Schiller, Chair of the Political Science department, comments on Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo reluctance to sign the $10 billion state budget, saying "First of all, she wants Rhode Island to look to the outside world like it’s running well."
Stuck in 'British India' for 129 years, why polls make no sense to residents of this Darjeeling tea garden (comments by Sarah Beksy)
April 17, 2019 News 18
Anthropologist Sarah Besky comments on the tea garden workers in Darjeeling and the Indian elections. "...the importing of the ‘kindly rhetoric of colonial plantation management into India’s Constitution’ was that these tea gardens function like states within states."
Political scene: Many factors led to House passage of abortion-rights bill (comments by Wendy Schiller)
March 11, 2019 The Providence Journal
Political scientist Wendy Schiller comments on last week's vote to protect the legality of abortion in Rhode Island. "By even giving this bill a hearing, much less bringing it to the House floor, Speaker Mattiello is acknowledging the changing dynamics on abortion both inside the Democratic Party in Rhode Island but the state more generally."
She didn't win big. But Raimondo's reelection signals continuity amid rocky Rhode Island politics (comments by Wendy Schiller)
January 25, 2019 The Boston Globe
Professor Wendy Schiller comments on Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and the state's politics, saying "Raimondo has to worry about protecting Rhode Island’s economic resurgence, and that will prove challenging with an ever-increasing state budget and municipal pension problems at the local level..."
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza cruises to easy victory (comments by Wendy Schiller)
November 8, 2018 Providence Journal
Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller said she believes Elorza's landslide victory is evidence that voters are pleased with the direction in which Providence is headed. "It matters how people view the progress of the city more than the actions of campaigning."
Unpredictable governor's race dubbed a 'full Rhode Island' (comments by Wendy Schiller)
October 24, 2018 The Boston Globe
Professor of Political Science Wendy Schiller predicted that if independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo gets more than 6 percent of the vote, the election will favor incumbent Gina Raimondo.
Ex-Hasbro CEO funds campaign ad for Providence mayoral challenger Witman (comments by Wendy Schiller)
October 17, 2018 Providence Journal
Political scientist Wendy Schiller provided commentary on the mayoral race in Providence, saying "People judge records by their own experiences in a city."
Watson Professors Receive Ford Foundation Grant
September 24, 2018
Professors Ashutosh Varshney and Patrick Heller recently received a Ford Foundation grant of $200,000 for their ongoing project on Citizenship and Urban Governance in India.
Getting Down to Facts II: Current Conditions and Paths Forward for California Schools
September 17, 2018
In a newly released study, Susan Moffitt, director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, partners with Susanna Loeb, new director of the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, and other researchers for Getting Down to Facts II, a project aimed at supporting improvements in California’s K-12 public school system, originally released in 2007.
Money game begins in race for RI governor (comments by Wendy Schiller)
September 17, 2018 NBC 10 News
Political scientist Wendy Schiller said of Rhode Island's third-party gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo that "people seem to know him, they seem to want to hear from him, and he's really gaining some popular support."
Raimondo, Fung opt out of debates (comments by Wendy Schiller)
August 30, 2018 NBC 10 News
Leading political candidates are skipping out on public debates this year, which Professor Wendy Schiller says is "unfair to the voters."
'A battle between Hindutva and Hinduism is coming' (written by Ashutosh Varshney)
August 13, 2018 The Indian Express
In a conversation with Professor Ashutosh Varshney, author Walter Andersen speaks of the changing nature of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, how it was influenced by its different sarsangchalaks and the challenges that lie ahead of the organisation.
Revisiting Decentralization After Maidan: Achievements and Challenges of Ukraine's Local Governance Reform (co-written by Anthony Levitas)
July 17, 2018 Wilson Center
Anthony Levitas in The Wilson Center's Kennan Institute, "The fact that Ukraine’s constitution does not yet reflect the reality of governance throughout the country is troubling."
Monopolies of Violence: Criminal Governance in Rio de Janeiro
July 5, 2018
Based on three years of research in Rio de Janeiro, Postdoctoral Fellow Nicholas Barnes explores the replacement of state authority with the criminal violence of drug trafficking gangs in favelas (impoverished informal neighborhoods).
Hawaii's quest for a new type of independence (written by Stephen Kinzer)
June 25, 2018 The Boston Globe
Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "The prospect that the United States would allow Hawaii to resume its place as an independent nation seems far-fetched."
The deal that Puerto Rico didn't ask for and didn't want (written by Stephen Kinzer)
May 14, 2018 The Boston Globe
Senior Fellow Stephen Kinzer in The Boston Globe, "Puerto Ricans never asked to become part of the United States, and Americans never truly wanted them. The two were united in a marriage that more resembled a kidnapping.
Raimondo releases information about controversial fundraising agreement (comments by Wendy Schiller)
February 20, 2018 NBC 10
Professor Wendy Schiller comments on the recently released fundraising agreement between Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and the Providence Democratic City Committee.
2017's Neediest Cities (comments by Margaret Weir)
December 13, 2017 WalletHub
Margaret Weir, professor of political science and international and public affairs, comments on WalletHub's roundup for the year's neediest cities.
Rethinking a Global Latin America (written by Matthew Gutmann)
December 5, 2017 University of California Press Blog
Anthropology professor Matthew Gutmann in the University of California Press Blog, "The history of Latin America is more than the Triple C’s of Conquest, Colonialism, and Christianity, the genocide, slavery, and immigration brought to the continent by rulers from Europe and the United States."