Duke Political Science

“The results of the election show this was not a typical midterm election," Kerry Haynie said in a media briefing to reporters. He then explained some of what makes this election distinct. Three Duke professors joined him in post-election analysis, available to watch here:
https://youtu.be/4Qp8mc1NgwU

With the midterms looming, Adriane Fresh and Sunshine Hillygus discuss issues of election integrity and voter turnout, starting at 10am today.
🎥 https://duke.is/233s5

This was a great year for Duke at the annual conference of the American Political Science Association. Many of our young alumni gathered together with our current graduate students to rekindle friendships. In addition, Rachel Myrick received the APSA 2022 Merze Tate Award for her dissertation, "Partisan Polarization and International Politics."

Our department is relaunching the undergraduate major with a new emphasis called, Career Concentrations. Career Concentrations will channel our department's expansive research agendas and our interdisciplinary partners to help students tie themes together so that at graduation they are prepared to launch into their next stage. Our 5 career concentrations are:

American Politics
International Relations
Law and Political Theory
Decision Theory and Data Science
Political Economy

To explore more, watch this video:
https://youtu.be/FoXYu1tSvAA

This season's cast of Survivor includes one of our own, Jesse Lopez. He researched voting behavior and survey methodology on his way to a Ph.D. in political science at Duke University.
Will his years of professional study be an advantage in the game?
Those who enjoy making predictions about who will be the likely gameshow winner should pause here and read this short article. Jesse Lopez has a story of academic success and personal growth that may be particularly well suited for the game.
https://polisci.duke.edu/news/jesse-lopez-set-more-survival-grad-student-game-show-contestant

Our department is in the rare position to be tribal for once as we cheer for Jesse's plan to win on the reality tv show Survivor! It aires tonight on CBS.

Last week we gathered together in an informal and cheerful spirit to welcome new students and to catch up with friends and colleagues at the end of summer. Our department chair, Michael Munger, encouraged us to renew the energy of engagement we experienced together, in-person, before the pandemic. This annual Welcome Back Reception was a longstanding tradition before the pandemic and now that it is back, it propels us into our active series of workshops that spark research and collaboration.

Congratulations to Gabby Levy and Priscilla Torres! They have both been awarded the Peace Scholars fellowship from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP)
https://gabriellalevy.net
https://www.priscillattorres.com

With less than a month left in her time at the helm of The Graduate School, Dean McClain reflects on her tenure and looks ahead to returning to her faculty role in the Department of Political Science.

Exit Interview: Dean Paula D. McClain | Duke Graduate School Paula D. McClain shares some reflections on her time as dean and what lies ahead as she prepares to wrap up her term

Long-time Duke faculty member and friend Geoffrey Brennan died in Canberra, Australia of complications from acute leukemia.

“Geoff” joined the Duke Department of Political Science in January 2005 as the Nan Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor, and has served as a Research Professor since. He helped co-found, and staff, the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program, a joint effort of Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. His primary appointment, and most of his time, was spent at the Australian National University in Canberra.

He was an eminent scholar in Public Choice, and Public Economics, with some of his influential early work published with Nobel Prize-Winner James Buchanan, including The Power to Tax and The Reason of Rules. In the 1990’s Geoff’s interests turned toward the connections between Public Choice and the growing field of “behavioral economics.” In Democracy and Decision (with Loren Lomasky), he considered a novel solution to the “paradox of voting” by giving expressive voting a much firmer theoretical foundation. In 2000 Brennan followed up this work with Democratic Devices and Desires, with Alan Hamlin. He extended this perspective with the discipline-crossing book The Economy of Esteem, written with philosopher and political scientist Philip Pettit. His final book, Explaining Norms, with Lina Erikkson, Robert Goodin and Nicholas Southwood, has implications that are still being explored in research work and laboratory experiments.

Geoff was co-editor of the collected works of James M Buchanan, and was extraordinarily energetic in working to create intellectual bridges. He was the first non-U.S. president of the Public Choice Society in 2002, and helped co-found the European Center for the Study of Public Choice in Rome. Locally, Geoff and his spouse Margaret were famous hosts when they were renting Duke’s R. Taylor Cole House at 7 Sylvan Road. Guests enjoyed not just fellowship and good food, but might be an audience for Geoff’s remarkable singing voice, perhaps in a rendition of “Bye, Bye, Blacksburg” or other favorites.

The Duke flags will be lowered in honor of Geoffrey Brennan, Monday, August 1st, 2022. Information on arrangements and details on donations coming soon.

Congratulations to Phan Tuan Ngoc who is seen here celebrating with friends and colleagues from Duke after defending his dissertation, "The Political Determinants of Corruption." He returns to Vietnam next weekend to start teaching at Fulbright University Vietnam!

fulbright.edu.vn/our-team/phan-tuan-ngoc/

On a new episode of the podcast, Inside Politics, Kerry Haynie was interviewed and he was asked about a range of topics such as the politics of race, gun legislation and North Carolina’s upcoming U.S. Senate race.
https://www.wfae.org/podcast/inside-politics/2022-06-07/the-politics-of-race-guns-and-north-carolinas-u-s-senate-race