As an imposed term, Hispanics/Latinos – individuals who can trace their ancestry to Latin America and the Caribbean – can be of any race. While the common narrative is that Latinos occupy a space between White and Black, and scholarship calls for moving beyond the Black-White binary, some Latinos reify the Black-White binary. Political scientist Yalidy Matos will examine how U.S. Latinos have aligned with and/or complicated the color line in the U.S. and the political consequences of such alignment.
While scholarship often links attitudes towards police to demographic variables such as race, class, and age, sentiments towards police change over time. For example, surveys have shown that changes in sentiment towards police closely track the political cycle. Online media can drive moments of polarization during electoral cycles by amplifying and politicizing issues at a time when media consumption is high. Political scientist Shelley Liu and sociologist Tony Cheng will examine what aspects of online media shape polarization towards police.
Although criminal record expungement programs and policies are designed to help mitigate the collateral consequences of an arrest or criminal conviction, few proceed through the administrative process. This creates a “second chance gap” and likely perpetuates social, economic, and political inequalities. Justice-involved individuals – those previously arrested or incarcerated – may be disqualified from, or have restrictions placed on, their receipt of public benefits as well as their rights.
The United States has developed and sustained a border-transcending system to regulate the movement of migrants. This system deploys U.S. actors and technologies across the world to intervene in the movement of people long before individuals have reached U.S. territory. Political scientist Angie Bautista-Chavez will examine how and why the U.S. has developed this system. She will investigate the following questions: 1) What role does U.S. bureaucracy play in extending U.S. immigration enforcement beyond U.S. borders? 2) Who are the managers of U.S. migration control?
The COVID-19 pandemic affected everyone, but its effects varied dramatically by age, gender, race, ethnicity, and geography. The federal government provided massive funds for COVID relief and most of the aid was distributed to individuals and businesses based on general eligibility criteria. However, little is known about COVID relief distribution and its effects. Did federal aid reach communities most in need? And did the federal government respond effectively and equitably at a time of polarized political parties and massive cross-community economic and socio-economic differences?
Questions about remote work arrangements have accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While about 20 percent of employees whose jobs could be done from home did so prior to the pandemic, in 2020, about 71 percent did, and 54 percent wished to continue working from home after the pandemic ends. At the same time, many employers expect workers to return to offices, often citing workplace dynamics and patterns of collaboration that they believe may have been impeded by remote work.
The economic and social struggles of many households arise because they lack enough money to make ends meet. Living expenses are high, wages have grown slowly, and families often have high debt and low savings. Under these conditions, guaranteed income programs have been proposed to improve financial security. Basic income programs are being implemented in several cities but remain understudied.
Relatively few citizens vote in the typical local election, with turnout often below ten percent of eligible voters. Voters in local elections differ from non-voters and are more likely to be white, well-off, well-educated, older, and advantaged. One implication is that those needing government support may have the least say in what government does. Political scientist Zoltan Hajnal will investigate the potential of local election timing reform to make democracy more representative.
The first Black police chief of a major metropolitan area was appointed in Newark NJ in 1975; the first woman chief, in Portland in 1985. These events were viewed as a sea change in police diversity, but diversity among chiefs remains low. As calls for police reform have increased, a common proposal is to increase diversity under the assumption that female and non-white police chiefs act differently than their male, white counterparts. Political scientists Anna Gunderson and Laura Huber will create a dataset of police chiefs and police scandals for all cities since 1980.