Politics and Government

“2020: The Course” gives students an opportunity to hear from UW professors and special guests who will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, race in the United States, the state of the environment, the economic recession, civic participation, citizenship and this election season and outcomes.

It’s not even Election Day, but Washington voters want their voices heard. On Thursday, the Washington Secretary of State’s office announced that 60.8% of ballots have been received. James Long, associate professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Even as residents of Earth grapple with a global pandemic, our work in space continues. At the UW, the Space Policy and Research Center — SPARC for short — brings together researchers, policymakers and industry professionals each year to discuss the challenges of human presence and endeavors in space.

Much like what’s happening today, the 2004 Washington gubernatorial race was littered with allegations of fraud, protests, court cases and questions raised about mail-in ballots. Election day was on Nov. 2, 2004. The race wouldn’t truly be over until June 7, after a Chelan County Superior Court judge ruled in Christine Gregoire’s favor for the position. Mark Smith, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

It’s the most expensive race in Washington’s 2020 election. In Washington’s 3rd Congressional District in Southwest Washington, Republican incumbent Jaime Herrera Beutler is fighting for a sixth term against second-time Democrat challenger Carolyn Long. Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, are interviewed.

The University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights plans to file public records requests with local governments and law enforcement agencies to monitor immigration enforcement and activity in the state.

“Unfair, deceptive and abusive practices” by tech giants Google and Facebook have suffocated local news outlets, contributing to a critical deficit of trustworthy local journalism, according to a new minority report from the Senate Commerce Committee released by ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell. Adrienne Russell, professor of communication and co-director of the UW Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy, is quoted.

How the country has arrived at its current circumstances and what can be done to move forward as a nation were the main themes of an Oct 21 lecture Francis gave called “Protests for the Soul of a Nation.”

The 2020 election is fast approaching, and with the protests against police brutality still continuing throughout the country, race is one of the hot issues for voters. It’s been talked about in all of the presidential and vice presidential debates; there have been Tweets and speeches made about the division of race and the current need for unity. In response to the importance of the issue of race, the history department organized a webinar with UW professors to discuss it.

Recent news of the arrest of Mexico’s former defense minister makes a new book about Mexican politics and journalism by Vanessa Freije, though a work of history, seem all too timely.

The confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett cements a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. The new justice could mark the start of a far-reaching shake-up in American politics, according to constitutional law experts. Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Louie Tan Vital (MPA, 2019 | BA, Political Science and Comparative History of Ideas, 2016) discusses her own experience with generational differences in Asian American voting trends. 

You probably already know that in certain corners of the internet, people are earnestly arguing that the Earth is flat. A few decades ago, they’d have been printing leaflets or newsletters. Now they can spread their misinformation to a much wider online audience. Mark Alan Smith, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

As tech companies have faced growing oversight from Congress in recent years, they have ramped up their contributions to political campaigns, including to Northwest lawmakers. Tech workers have become another important source of campaign funds, though their interests are not always aligned with those of their employers. Margaret O’Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

After Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016, people in liberal areas were in shock — and wondering what a Trump presidency would mean for the country. A week after the election, we asked academics to write their thoughts. With hindsight being 2020, KUOW revisits the most prescient of those pieces, including those by 10 UW faculty members.