Politics and Government

This week’s move by more than 200 workers at Alphabet to form a union is being seen as an alternative framework for organizing at other Silicon Valley giants. Margaret O’Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

“As a scholar who writes about the moral justifications of social and legal institutions, I argue that there may be good moral reason for this impeachment – even if it cannot be completed before Trump leaves office,” writes Michael Blake, professor of philosophy and of public policy and governance at the UW.

The ability of companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google to control what people see online is so potent, it is the subject of antitrust hearings. But the decision by Amazon to push Parler off its dominant cloud-computing service illustrates just how powerful its content-moderation capabilities are as well. Margaret O’Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

As the Donald Trump administration winds down, anti-nuclear weapons activists are hoping that a Joe Biden presidency will mark a turning point in the way the U.S. approaches nuclear weapons. Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW, is quoted. [This story appeared in multiple outlets]

“Death penalty advocates most frequently focus on deterrence [as a justification for the death penalty] — but as research including my own work shows, it has not been shown to be effective,” writes David Barash, professor emeritus of psychology at the UW.

James Long, associate professor of political science at the UW, breaks down what’s happening in the House of Representatives regarding the effort to remove President Trump from office.

Five prominent players in Washington state business are halting or reviewing some or all of their campaign contributions after last week’s U.S. Capitol riot and the refusal by some Republicans to certify the presidential election results. Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

The U.S. Constitution has a built-in mechanism that allows the president’s powers to be transferred to the vice president if the president becomes incapable of discharging them. In the wake of the U.S. Capitol riots, Democratic lawmakers have called on Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Trump from power. Rebecca Thorpe, associate professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have all cut ties with President Donald Trump, and now many of his followers are looking for more obscure sites to voice their views. Hanson Hosein, co-director of the UW’s Communication Leadership program, is interviewed.

“As scholars who study democracy historically and comparatively, we predict that the biggest threats to democracy Trump poses won’t emerge until after he exits the White House — when Biden will have to face the Trump presidency’s most serious challenges,” write the UW’s James Long, associate professor of political science, and Victor Menaldo, professor of political science.

Democratic control of the White House and Senate will put pressure on the Supreme Court’s oldest justice, Stephen G. Breyer, to step aside so that President-elect Joe Biden can choose his successor. Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Democratic control of the White House and Senate will put pressure on the Supreme Court’s oldest justice, Stephen G. Breyer, to step aside so that President-elect Joe Biden can choose his successor. Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Twitter’s decision Friday to join Facebook in permanently suspending President Trump’s account underscored the fundamental role of social media in one of the most tumultuous periods in American history. If it feels strange and unusual, that’s because there’s no historical precedent, neither in media nor the presidency. Margaret O’Mara, professor of history at the UW, is interviewed on the GeekWire podcast.

“The choice of Garland is a good indication — both for better and for worse — of what can be expected of a Biden administration: competent governance that is more moderate than the progressive wing of the Democratic Party would prefer,” writes Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW.

Activist and educator Jesse Hagopian and several other Black Washingtonians who witnessed the day’s events through computer or TV screens described frustration, hurt and anger at the contrast in police response to a mob overtaking the Capitol compared to their own and other Black Americans’ experiences with police. Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.