Political Science | Penn Today

Students in a parking lot of a school, some playing, one on a laptop, during the pandemic.

The multilayered challenges of broadband expansion

Penn professors identify the challenges ahead for expanding broadband access to people who need it, in areas both rural and urban.

Two people standing outside, with a bridge and trees blurry in the background. One, in a blue button-down shirt and khakis, stands with hands in pockets. The other, in a red dress, stands with arms crossed.

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.

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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.

An upcoming vote in Israel’s parliament could end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 12 years in power. (Image: Press service of the president of the Russian Federation)

Q&A

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.

How far are Republicans willing to go? They’re already gone

Daniel Hopkins of the School of Arts & Sciences spoke about the lack of public understanding of U.S. election law. “Relatively few people are equipped to directly evaluate claims that an election was fraudulent, so voters necessarily rely on politicians, media commentators and other elites to tell them if something ran afoul,” he said.

Two green N1 highway signs stacked on top of each other show arrows pointing the way to Belfast in the top sign and the way to Dublin in the bottom sign, with Belfast to the left and Dublin to the right

Q&A

Report looks at referendums on Irish unification

A dozen experts, including Penn’s Brendan O’Leary, lay a framework for how any future unification vote can be fair and feasible.

An Islamist party is part of Israel’s new coalition government. How did that happen?

Guy Grossman of the School of Arts & Sciences and a Hebrew University of Jerusalem colleague wrote about Israel’s 36th government, which is expected to include an Arab party for the first time in more than 40 years. “The breaking of the long-standing taboo could see Arab parties continuing to be legitimate coalition partners,” they said.

How child tax credits will affect American families

Social scientists Amy Castro Baker and Pilar Gonalons-Pons weigh in on how expanded child tax credits beginning July 15 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 will impact poverty, gender relations, and future policy

Six people stand in a square in Poland in front of a statue of a man in toga, some hold Belarusian flags, one woman holds a sign reading "SOS" and a man holds a photo of Belarusian journalist Raman Pratasevich

Belarus plane ‘hijacking,’ journalist’s arrest brings international condemnation

Penn Today spoke to former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow, currently the Wolk Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Perry World House, to get some background, his take on the ordeal, and what should happen next.

An American flag flaps in front of the tip of a white church steeple topped by a cross, with a blue sky and clouds in the background

Nationalism, American evangelicals, and conservatism

Historians Anthea Butler and Heather J. Sharkey and political scientist Michele Margolis share their thoughts on the history of American evangelicals in politics, Trump’s appeal, and what it means for the future of the GOP.

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