Garima Verma

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts,” writes our Research Director, Prof. William Bianco, as he explains his approach to teaching 'Intro to American Government' in an Election Year. Check out his latest piece published on the Norton Learning Blog: https://lnkd.in/gX5RK5pS

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REVERBERATIONS FROM THE CAPITOL The US Supreme Court currently has two cases pending arising from the Capitol riot of January 6, 2021: Fischer v. United States, No. 23-5572, concerning whether the federal obstruction-of-justice statute (18 USC section 1512(c)(2)) can be applied to this event, and the far more newsworthy Trump v. United States, No. 23-939, concerning whether the former president can assert official immunity as a defense to a criminal prosecution. Aside from its presence on the high court's docket, January 6 continues to reverberate in the lower courts. It is the largest criminal investigation in US history, and has resulted in over 1,200 criminal prosecutions. Even today, more than three years later, there is still very much to be learned. New charges are filed regularly, and cases work their way through the legal pipeline, from arrest to trial to appeals. Additionally, we can examine broader trends among participants, as the Chicago Project on Security and Threats has been doing since the very beginning. I am proud to be playing a role in this work, which right now includes looking at how insurrectionists participate in public life after serving their sentences. The lessons learned, once decided, will help researchers and lay people alike in understanding modern political violence in America.

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🌎 What’s at stake for countries around the world holding elections in 2025? In this new piece from The Conversation, SIS professor Garret Martin discusses the implications of Germany’s upcoming election. Read his insights here: https://bit.ly/4fPsztL

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I appreciated the opportunity to learn from dozens of experts on tech and democracy at the International Workshop on Reimagining Democracy 2024 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center. I spoke on a couple of issues from a law review article I’m currently writing entitled “Analyzing the Benefits of AI to Racially-Inclusive Democracy” (a companion to my “AI Harms” Iowa Law Review article—see link in comments). After quickly reviewing AI’s potential benefits (reducing racial polarization, deceptive practices, and disparities in voter participation, civic participation, and government services), I leaned into a couple of real-world criticisms--in part because I believe that they are relevant to others who propose democracy-enhancing AI applications and we need to grapple with them in our work. Criticism 1:  Because many communities of color have fewer resources, there is little reason to believe that private sector tech companies will prioritize the development of AI applications that facilitate racially-inclusive democracy. Even tools marketed as democracy-enhancing may be more accessible to those with greater resources and may expand disparities. Just a handful of companies control generative AI models and computational infrastructure, and an AI-powered democracy built by these companies may give them excessive influence in shaping political and policy outcomes. Criticism 2: Providing legal incentives to promote AI that facilitates racially-inclusive democracy (tax incentives, public AI, regulations) is limited because many politicians (at least in the U.S.) will block the proposals. They will argue that the proposals promote authoritarian “woke AI” social engineering that artificially inflates the voice of communities of color. They may assert that AI that facilitates inclusive democracy divides Americans by undermining traditional cultural values and incentives to learn English. Special thanks to Henry Farrell, Marci Harris, Bruce Schneier, and Divya Siddarth for organizing this stellar opportunity to learn from others who are thinking deeply about the future of democracy. Thanks also to Nathan Sanders for the photo.

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Proud that our Junior Research Associate, Temitayo Oladejo CINTA, has begun a master's program in International Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Europe in Bologna, Italy. As global threats become more complex, Temitayo seeks to deepen his knowledge of International Relations at SAIS, focusing on security studies for a career in Crisis Response and Security Management. #internationalaffairs #security #securityindustry #securitytraining #securitymanagement #securitystudies #crisisresponse

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Why would a government with powerful tools of exclusion expand access to socioeconomic citizenship rights? And when autocratic systems expand redistribution, whom do they choose to include? UC Irvine's Samantha Vortherms, our 2017-18 Shorenstein Postdoctoral Fellow on Contemporary Asia, explores these questions in her forthcoming book, "Manipulating Authoritarian Citizenship," which examines the case of China and uncovers how autocrats use institutions like the household registration system (hukou) to create particularistic membership in citizenship. This new title is the next installment in APARC's joint monograph series with Stanford University Press. Learn more and pre-order your copy > https://lnkd.in/gKHmsUyV

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Over the past decade, Chinese nationals were the largest group of asylum seekers, totaling around 63,000, or over one-fifth of all asylees entering the U.S. between fiscal years 2012 and 2021. More Chinese nationals received asylee status defensively than affirmatively, meaning most admittances occurred after people applied for asylum during deportation proceedings. #Asylum #Immigration #ImmigrationFacts #ChineseAsylumSeekers #USImmigration #DefensiveAsylum #AffirmativeAsylum #ImmigrationLaw #HumanRights #Refugees

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In this POQ article, authors Raunak M Pillai, Eunji Kim, Lisa K Fazio investigate the impact of repeated false statements by President Trump on public perceptions. Key findings: Partisan Asymmetry: Increased repetitions of falsehoods led to higher belief among Republicans but decreased belief among Democrats. Media Consumption: Effects of repetition were more significant among individuals consuming right-leaning cable news and when falsehoods were primarily repeated on Twitter. Implications for Misinformation Research: These findings highlight the role of media and repetition in shaping public beliefs, with important consequences for misinformation research. By leveraging comprehensive data on Trump’s repeated misleading claims and a national survey, this research sheds light on how repetition influences public misperceptions. Read more - https://lnkd.in/ewGMmwyf

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Interested in measuring news consumption behavior and how citizens are positioned in the partisan news ecosystem? Check out our new paper in Public Opinion Quarterly @AAPOR American Association for Public Opinion Research! We introduce a novel measure integrating self-reported media use with outlet bias scores to measure the slant, diversity, and extremity of news consumption and its impact on beliefs in electoral fraud and distrust in the electoral system. Shout out to my amazing collaborators Sang Jung Kun, Leo Yuanliang Shan, Yibing Sun, Xiaoya Jiang, Heysung Lee, Porismita Borah Mike Wagner and Dhavan Shah!

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New Article Published: "Asian International Students’ Barriers to Reporting Sexual Harassment Incidents" We are pleased to announce the publication of a new research article titled "Asian International Students’ Barriers to Reporting Sexual Harassment Incidents," by Semonti Dey from Penn State University. 🔗 Read the full article here: DOI: https://lnkd.in/d2GyJRBv Key Highlights: The study explores the challenges Asian international students face when reporting sexual harassment incidents on college campuses. Through narratives from Asian international students at a predominantly white institution, the research identifies key barriers, including: The severity of harassment cases. Lack of departmental support. Fear of retaliation. Concerns about peer relationships. These findings highlight the need for institutions to revise their policies and practices to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for international students.

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The Afghanistan Policy Lab (APL) at Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) jointly convened an event titled: “Three Years Later: The Dire State of Afghanistan and Global Strategies for Ways Forward.” Under the discussion focusing on "The State of Humanitarian Situation & Economy in Afghanistan," APL Fellow Ahmad Zia Wahdat, PhD presented the outcomes of his paper and shared his expert opinion on the issue of food insecurity. "Food insecurity in Afghanistan is not uniform across households, with certain socioeconomic groups being more vulnerable. In a recent household-level study (Wahdat 2024), I found that female-headed households are 7 and 19 percentage points more likely to be food insecure and hungry, respectively, compared to male-headed households. Similarly, urban households face a 10 and 15 percentage point higher likelihood of food insecurity and hunger than rural households. Notably, employment and recent aid do not significantly reduce food insecurity or hunger, suggesting competing needs and financial hardship among Afghan households. Understanding this heterogeneity in food insecurity is crucial for developing effective interventions. My study reveals that home employment and market access are protective factors against food insecurity, which could be leveraged to address the higher vulnerability of female-headed households. Employment is a priority for 75% of urban households, while 72.5% of rural households are affected by droughts. Thus, supporting Afghanistan's food industry and strengthening its agri-food value chains could create urban jobs and protect farmers against income volatility. Specific measures to strengthen these value chains could include providing drought-resistant seeds and post-harvest loss technologies to farmers."

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📢 We are excited to announce the 2025 SEEKCommons Fellowship! The SEEKCommons Fellowship is funded by NSF and run by partners at University of Notre Dame, University of California Davis, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and The HDF Group. The goal of the fellowship is to bring graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and professionals from community-based organizations with new perspectives to socio-environmental research with open technologies. The SEEKCommons Fellowship is funded by NSF and run by partners at University of Notre Dame, University of California Davis, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and The HDF Group. The goal of the fellowship is to bring graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and professionals from community-based organizations with new perspectives to socio-environmental research with open technologies. Application deadline is Dec. 15, 2024. The fellowship is designed to: - Encourage new translational and integrative work involving socio-environmental action research with Open Science practices; - Provide a space for Fellows and network members to collaborate on common research issues, challenges, and solutions. Because questions of technological sovereignty and community stewardship are prominent in the environmental action research debates, criteria for joining the Fellowship cohort will include a record of engagement with these questions in their own communities (e.g., students from indigenous groups with an interest in data sovereignty, or from frontline communities interested in actionable research findings, researchers in STS working on open research infrastructures, technologists developing software, hardware, or data resources for socio-environmental research). Fellows will be selected based on the relevance of their proposal for the SEEKCommons project and the availability of Network mentors. Fellows may be: - Graduate students working with open technologies on sustainability/climate issues; conducting research with open technology on socio-environmental issues; - Post-docs with existing community projects in Science and Technology Studies, Open Science, and/or Socio-environmental research; or - Community practitioners who are interested in integrating open practices or technologies into their environmental justice work. Applications are due by December 15 and more information can be found at: https://lnkd.in/g8YEK--T #STS #OpenScience #OS #Socio-Environmental-Research #AvailableOpportunity #Fellowship #FellowshipOpportunity

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What is the impact of immigration on the federal budget? This is the question I answer in my latest research with the Manhattan Institute. I find that: - Immigrants reduce the deficit (on average) - The Border Crisis will cost over $1 trillion - Each young high-skilled immigrant reduces the debt by over $1 million I improve upon the methodology of existing estimates of the fiscal impact of immigrants by doing several things. First, I use more recent data about immigrants, natives, and the debt and entitlement programs. I also adjust for the fact that immigrants live longer than native-born Americans and for differentials in health costs by educational attainment. Unlike the CBO or National Academies of Science, I don't look at the next 10 or 75 years but a longer and more accurate time-span, of up to 100 years. Finally, I differentiate immigrants into the most groups of any research yet—35 groups by age at arrival and education. Read more below.

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Tune in to this episode to hear about science funding, science for policy, and policy for science!

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Prof. Benjamin Appel of GPS and prof. Sarah Croco from the University of Maryland explore the global impact of democratic backsliding in this working paper from UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). When democracies erode, leaders are more likely to act aggressively toward other countries. Their study highlights the international risks of democratic decline. Read more: https://lnkd.in/g2TCPBMN #ForeignPolicy #AcademicResearch #DemocraticBacksliding #PoliticalScience

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Last week, I wrote an in-depth analysis for Human Development Forum Foundation on the recent events in Bangladesh, as well as their regional and global implications. Check out the article below. https://lnkd.in/dB9K3zQN

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Combining rigorous scholarship with evocative and accessible prose, the book covers all the issues central to the pandemic and the disastrous policy response, a narrative as comprehensive as it is intellectually devastating. ~Gigi Foster, Paul Frijters, & Michael Baker The Great Covid Panic https://a.co/d/9D3Snw1

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