Politics and Government

Historically, presidential candidates and their teams have weighed a number of factors — including public opinion and political experience — before making a decision on the number two slot sometime around the party conventions. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Boeing is still a force locally, both in influence and sheer numbers. The company still receives very generous tax benefits from Washington, notes Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW. Yet its presence in the region isn’t top of mind for many anymore.

In the first of the history department’s annual History Lecture Series, Professor Emeritus John Findlay presented “City and Citizens: Seattleites and Their Rights, 1850-2000,” reflecting on different groups that have immigrated to Seattle.

As the nation’s political attention now turns toward the Hawkeye state, WalletHub compared Iowa’s demographic likeness and public opinions with the U.S. using 22 key metrics. James Long, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

You don’t interrupt your quiet life in a Seattle suburb and book a plane ticket to war-torn Sudan unless you have a really good reason. Not right now, in the middle of a brutal conflict between rival forces that’s killed more than 12,000 people and displaced 7 million. Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

The Chinese government has for decades periodically announced the imminent abolition of its decades-old household registration system, or hukou. The Ministry of Public Security fanned hopes in August of the beginning of the end of hukou by announcing the government would scrap its restrictions in cities with populations of 3 to 5 million. But Chinese policymakers are now backpedaling on that plan. Kam Wing Chan, professor of geography at the UW, is quoted.

Turnout for this year’s November election was the lowest on record since Washington started keeping track in 1936. Statewide, 36.41% of registered voters returned their ballot in 2023. That beats the previous low of 37.1%, held in another odd-year election — 2017, and the one before that, 38.52% in 2015. Mark Smith, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

"Santos may be exceptional in how many lies he has told, but politicians seeking election have incentives to tell voters what they want to hear – and there is some empirical evidence that a willingness to lie may be helpful in the process of getting elected. Voters may not appreciate candidates who are unwilling or unable to mislead others from time to time," writes Michael Blake, professor of philosophy and of public policy and governance at the UW.

“Killers of the Flower Moon," the 2017 true crime book, and its new feature film adaptation, shine a light on the conspiracy to murder Osage people for their oil rights in early 1920s Oklahoma. Jean Dennison, associate professor of American Indian Studies at the UW, is interviewed.

Tech welcomes big characters, and many successful founders become synonymous with their brands. The incentive structures of Silicon Valley — and the huge sums that can be gained from selling stories rather than functional products — mean that the door remains open for other people to follow in Bankman-Fried's tracks. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Political Science professor James Long studies why many voters choose to participate in elections in emerging democracies despite the considerable personal cost.

What it means to be Black and Republican has changed through the years. American Ethnic Studies professor La TaSha Levy is researching a period of dramatic change for Black Republicans. 

Where do you seek information about politics and elections? In this roundtable, three faculty in the UW Department of Communication discuss the role of media in creating an informed public.

Israeli strikes on Gaza continue as the conflict between Hamas militants and Israel enters its eleventh day. The Israeli Defense Force now says more than 1,400 people were killed in the Oct. 7 massacre, where Hamas fighters targeted families in their homes, young people at a dance music festival and several Israeli military border bases. Hamas also captured nearly 200 hostages. The dead include Hayim Katsman, who studied at the UW Jackson School of International Studies. The UW's Liora Halperin, professor of history and international studies, and Smadar Ben-Natan, postdoctoral fellow in Israel studies, are quoted.

FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried will stand trial on charges of overseeing fraud that sucked in high-profile investors and hundreds of thousands of clients. Why do smart people buy into bad companies? Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.