Social Sciences Division

Scott Lemieux, political science lecturer, explains the implications of when governance norms are broken.

"As I write, my city has been invaded. It is the month when Seattle weather normally gleams with clarity, yet my throat burns and the trees at the end of the block are being dissolved by a Martian haze. Across the street, my neighbor’s house appears as if in a grainy sepia photograph. I can only think that the atmosphere has materialized for us what an excess of carbon really feels like," writes Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW.

"A recent survey of presidential deception found that all American presidents – from Washington to Trump – have told lies, knowingly, in their public statements. As a political philosopher, with a focus on how people try to reason together through political disagreement, I argue that not all lies are the same," writes Michael Blake, professor of philosophy and of public policy and governance at the UW.

"One of us is a political scientist at the University of Washington, and the other is a former elections commissioner who now studies voting laws. We can explain why voter fraud is so rare – especially for mail-in ballots," write Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, and Charlotte Hill, of the University of California Berkeley.

Megan Ming Francis, University of Washington associate professor of political science, has been named one of 12 grant-supported “Freedom Scholars” in a new $3 million initiative by the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation, working together. Scholars are recognized for work “shifting the balance of power to families and communities that have been historically excluded from the resources and benefits of society.”

A 6,600-word internal memo from a fired Facebook data scientist details how the social network knew leaders of countries around the world were using their site to manipulate voters — and failed to act. Katy Pearce, associate professor of communication at the UW, is quoted.

Statistics and Sociology Professor Adrian Raftery is lead author on a guide to understanding COVID-19 data, for those making public health decisions.

Washington and Oregon rarely feature in presidential races. But as demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism have continued across the country, the Pacific Northwest — the site of some of the country’s largest and most persistent protests — has taken on a narrative role in the national campaign even as it remains an electoral backwater. Jacob Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

"How a society handles disasters says a lot about its resilience, character and governance capacities. Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW.

"Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write UW Professors' Nives Dolšak and Aseem Prakash.

Sven Haakanson Jr., a curator at the Burke Museum and faculty member in Anthropology and American Indian Studies, is interviewed in the films "A Kayak To Carry Us: Lived Knowledge" and "Stories in Stone" about his efforts to preserve the past on Kodiak Island, a place where he grew up.

Muslims and atheists in the United States are more likely than those of Christian faiths to experience religious discrimination, according to new research led by the University of Washington.

After 9/11, "Americans grew more suspicious of and outwardly hostile to Muslims. Research shows that these views increased in the years that followed. Our recently published paper in the Public Administration Review shows that — even 19 years later — public officials in the United States discriminate against Muslims," write Steven Pfaff, professor of sociology at the UW; Charles Crabtree of Dartmoth College; Holger L. Kern of Florida State University; and John B. Holbein of the University of Virginia.

It’s been almost two decades since the events of 9/11, yet we still live in their shadow. That era-defining terrorist assault on the United States prefigured a new age of military interventions abroad and surveillance powers and security protocols at home. The advent of the “war on terror” saw U.S. forces deployed across a wide arc of the planet, from West Africa to the Middle East, in an avowed worldwide campaign against Islamist militancy. Daniel Bessner, associate professor of international studies at the UW, is quoted.

Margaret O’Mara, professor of history, discusses the relationship between science, technology, and the national defense.