Tag Archives: Political Science department

The rise of distrust

What does rising distrust and polarization mean for the functioning of society? What happens to nonpolitical institutions when a loss of trust and partisan divide hamper their abilities to meet common challenges and solve shared problems? The current issue of … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Educational policy reform in Ireland

As calls for further reducing the role of the Catholic Church in Irish primary schools gains traction in a rapidly evolving Irish society, The Politics of Irish Primary Education: Reform in an Era of Secularisation (Peter Lang, 2022) demonstrates how the … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

From Beirut to Belfast

Czar Alexei Sepe, a 2021 Boston College graduate who majored in political science and history, has turned his senior thesis into a book, From Beirut to Belfast: How Power-Sharing Arrangements affect Ethnic Tensions in Post-Conflict Societies. Sepe uses Northern Ireland … Continue reading

Posted in Alumni Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Alliance politics

Accommodative wedge strategy, a form of divisive statecraft and diplomacy designed to isolate adversaries from allies and potential supporters through inducements, is a powerful tool in the international politics arsenal. In his new book, The Power to Divide: Wedge Strategies … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The end of religious empires and the rise of the modern state

Coping with Defeat: Sunni Islam, Roman Catholicism, and the Modern State (Princeton University Press, 2021), a new book by Boston College Professor of Political Science Jonathan Laurence, explores the surprising similarities in the rise and fall of the Islamic and … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Catherine the Great, a Dutch Golden Age masterpiece, and a shipwreck

In 1771, a merchant ship out of Amsterdam, Vrouw Maria, crashed off the stormy Finnish coast, taking her historic cargo to the depths of the Baltic Sea. The vessel was delivering a dozen Dutch masterpiece paintings—including The Nursery by Rembrandt’s … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

White House whistleblower

Miles Taylor, whose 2018 anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times provided insight into the chaos and instability in President Trump’s administration as well as the efforts of some insiders to work against the president’s alleged recklessness, will present “Why … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Authors | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Adam Smith’s insights on living a good life

Professor of Political Science Ryan Patrick Hanley discussed his book Our Great Purpose: Adam Smith on Living a Better Life (Princeton University Press, 2019) at a virtual event hosted by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. In … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Lessons from Aristophanes

Behrakis Professor in Hellenic Political Studies Robert C. Bartlett presents new translations of Aristophanes’ most overtly political works in the new publication, Against Demagogues: What Aristophanes Can Teach Us about the Perils of Populism and the Fate of Democracy, New Translations … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A guide to conducting political science fieldwork abroad

In a new volume, more than 40 political scientists provide personal accounts of conducting field research in locations, often dangerous, around the globe. Co-edited by Boston College Political Science Associate Professor Peter Krause and Ora Szekely of Clark University, Stories … Continue reading

Posted in Boston College Authors | Tagged , | Leave a comment