Political Science

U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria, explained

Sara Plana, a 2021-22 Postdoctoral Fellow at Perry World House, shares her thoughts on the airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed militias and the bigger picture of what’s happening in the region.

Kristen de Groot

The ins and outs of research, through a yearlong practicum

The course, which just completed its third iteration, takes undergrads through the process, from generating a hypothesis and creating experiments to analyzing results and writing a paper. The most recent cohort studied mentorship and educational inequality.

Michele W. Berger

Designing public institutions that foster cooperation

People are more likely to cooperate with those they see as “good.” Using a mathematical model, School of Arts & Sciences researchers found it’s possible to design systems that assess and broadcast participants’ reputations, leading to high levels of cooperation and adherence.

Katherine Unger Baillie

Israel’s new coalition government

Middle East expert Ian Lustick discusses why this power play is happening now and what the coalition government means for the future of Israeli politics.

Kristen de Groot



In the News


Baltimore Sun

Maryland shifted toward Donald Trump more than some other blue states, while giving Kamala Harris her second-biggest win

Matthew Levendusky of the School of Arts & Sciences says that poor turnout in heavily Democratic cities and a general voter swing for economic reasons contributed to Donald Trump’s victory.

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The New York Times

Kennedy’s vow to take on big food could alienate his new G.O.P. allies

Mary Summers of the School of Arts & Sciences says that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stated dual missions of dismantling the F.D.A. and regulating food ingredients don’t go together.

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Business Insider

Elon Musk wins big by betting on Trump

Cary Coglianese of Penn Carey Law says that Elon Musk might view himself as capable of “turning around the federal government.”

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Inside Higher Ed

The view of the voting from campus

Jeffrey Green of the School of Arts & Sciences discusses the Penn Political Union, sponsored by the Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy in the School of Arts & Sciences, which hosts student debates and speakers across the ideological spectrum.

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Newsweek

Donald Trump, evangelicals and the 2024 MAGA coalition

Shawn Patterson Jr. of the Annenberg Public Policy Center says that Donald Trump was largely an apolitical figure in 2016 with a wide array of celebrity relationships, donations to candidates of both parties, and a career in New York real estate.

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NBC News

How Pennsylvania’s mail ballot rules will lead to thousands of provisional ballots on Election Day

Marc Meredith of the School of Arts & Sciences and Michael Morse of Penn Carey Law say that most provisional ballots in Pennsylvania are likely to come from voters with outstanding mail ballots, rather than voters who’ve already returned deficient mail ballots.

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