MPSA Blog
Last Minute Planning Chicago? You’re Not Alone
By Emily Boykin, Doctoral Candidate in Public Administration at Florida State University If you’re like me, you’re currently sitting in the airport preparing for your flight to Chicago with a preliminary plan of touring the Windy City in between panels, poster sessions, luncheons, business…
Maximizing Feedback About Research During Conference Sessions
By James Steur, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The 80th MPSA Conference is just around the corner, and if you’re like me I’m excited to explore new restaurants in downtown Chicago, present my research, and blog about exciting panels. Over the years, I’ve written blog…
Direct Democracy: Still Mad as Hell After 45 Years
by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Author’s Note The following passage is an excerpt from the project “Political Science Undercover” by Chapman Rackaway, Kevin Anderson, and me. The first iteration of this project will be presented at the upcoming…
After Big Wins for the Humanities in FY 23 What Comes Next?
By Alexandra Klein, Communications and Government Relations Manager, National Humanities Alliance With the beginning of March, we are gearing up for the 2023 NHA Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day--the first to be held in person since 2020. We have much to celebrate in looking back at the…
The Trump-Biden Era in U.S.-China Relations
by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University Are we in the midst of the Trump-Biden era? This question seems absurd at first glance. The antipathy that the current and former President have for one another, and that their supporters have for one another, are…
From Soaking and Poking to Breaching Empathy Walls: Qualitative Research after Fenno
by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University It is hard to say goodbye to Richard Fenno (1926-2020). He was truly one of a kind. Fenno called his style of qualitative research “soaking and poking.” More formally, it is known as participant observation. Many…
No, we are not More Divided Than Ever
by Michael A. Smith, Professor of Political Science, Emporia State University The other day, I was grading a student project when I noticed that they had written something that seems widely believed these days. The student argued that Americans are more divided along party lines than ever before.…
A Boundary of White Inclusion: How Religion Shapes Perceptions of Ethnoracial Assignment
By Amanda Sahar d’Urso, Northwestern University The following blog post is a summary of the research that won the Midwest Political Science Association’s Lucius Barker Award (for research presented at the 2021 MPSA Annual Conference). Who do White Americans consider to be White? Is it simply a…
Who is it Okay to Punch? An Experimental Investigation of Support for Intolerance in the Form of Physical Violence
By Frank J. Gonzalez and Alexandra McCoy The following blog post is a summary of the research that co-won the Midwest Political Science Association’s Best Paper in American Politics Award (presented at the 2021 MPSA Annual Conference). The variety of ways in which we have seen political violence…
Looking Back at a Year of Robust Humanities Advocacy
By Alexandra Klein, NHA Communications and Government Relations Manager In early March, five months after Fiscal Year 2022 began, Congress finally passed a funding package for the year. The package included significant increases for federal humanities programs—most significantly, the largest…