Political Science

"The story here is not just about whether people are legally allowed to vote," says Ariel White, "but about whether they are practically able to vote, whether they know they're allowed to vote, and whether they think they have any reason to do so."

3 Questions: Ariel White on the impact of incarceration on voting

The political consequence of even short jail terms is disproportionately pushing African-American voters out of the electorate.

October 28, 2019

Newly-tenured faculty in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences: (clockwise from top left) Nikhil Agarwal, Sana Aiyar, Miriam Schoenfield, F. Daniel Hidalgo, and Stephanie Frampton.

Meet the 2019 tenured professors in the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

SHASS faculty members Nikhil Agarwal, Sana Aiyar, Stephanie Frampton, Daniel Hidalgo, and Miriam Schoenfield were recently granted tenure.

October 22, 2019

Professor Lydia Bourouiba’s work was featured at the TEDMED 2019 meeting. Her invited talk outlined how a deeper understanding of the fluid dynamics and biophysics of transmission can provide the power to predict and control the spread of airborne infectious diseases.

MIT Policy Lab issues fifth call for proposals to faculty and researchers

Based within the Center for International Studies, the lab provides outreach support to help MIT researchers connect with the policy world.

October 22, 2019

Guillermo Toral (left) and Tugba Bozcaga

What makes for better bureaucracy?

Political science PhD candidates Guillermo Toral and Tugba Bozcaga find that government-appointed officials deliver the goods — given the right circumstances.

October 21, 2019

A new book, by MIT political scientist Richard Samuels, examines the past and future of Japanese intelligence services in a rapidly shifting world.

A look at Japan’s evolving intelligence efforts

New book examines the past and future of Japanese intelligence services in a rapidly shifting world.

October 8, 2019

Looking under the surface of politics in Latin America

Associate Professor Danny Hidalgo’s work reveals some difficult truths about money, elections, and political influence.

September 24, 2019

Computing and artificial intelligence: Humanistic perspectives from MIT

How the humanities, arts, and social science fields can help shape the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing — and benefit from advanced computing.

September 24, 2019

Richard Samuels, the Ford International Professor of Political Science and director of the MIT Center for International Studies, introduces Suzanne Berger, MIT’s John M. Deutch Institute Professor, and Jan-Werner Mueller, a professor of politics at Princeton University, at MIT’s Starr Forum event on global populism, Sept. 12.

Understanding populism

At MIT forum, scholars wrestle with the dynamics of a global political trend.

September 16, 2019

A new study co-authored by MIT scholars examines the impact of political information on voter behavior, under a variety of conditions. The schematic images here represent voter information networks, ranging from those with connections across political parties, upper left, to those with no contact between opposing party members, bottom right.

How “information gerrymandering” influences voters

Study analyzes how networks can distort voters’ perceptions and change election results.

September 4, 2019

“I chose MIT because no other political science graduate program had such strengths in both East Asia and security studies,” says Fiona Cunningham PhD ’19. “I want to understand the changing nature of warfare and how new technologies have become both opportunities and restraints for countries in international politics.”

The intersection of technology and war

MIT excels in teaching the science and technology associated with the operation of societies, businesses, and militaries, says Fiona Cunningham PhD ’19.

August 13, 2019