The 2015 Policy in Action lecture series kicked off on Wednesday, January 23rd with a visit from Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh. Senator Marsh took part in a student led Q&A  at Carmichael Hall. The lecture series, “Policy in Action” was created by graduate students in higher education and public administration to give students insight into how public policy is made, as well as spark a more general discussion within the state about how we can make democratic institutions […]

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Alumni Recognize Professor’s Influence August 11, 2014 / Permalink                               From the August 2014 Desktop News | Decades after they were taught by political science Professor Barbara Chotiner, alumni still attest to her influence on their lives and careers. During Chotiner’s retirement reception June 18 at The University of Alabama President’s Mansion, faculty members in the department read excerpts from letters from former students who, even […]

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“Law, Fact, and the Threat of Reversal From Above.” Joseph L. Smith, The University of Alabama, Box 870213, 356 ten Hoor Hall Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA. Email: josmith@as.ua.edu American Politics Research, March 2014, Volume 42(2): 226-256. Abstract This article argues that the threat of review and reversal by supervising courts affects circuit court judges differently in disputes focusing on law compared to disputes focusing on facts. Because fact-bound cases are less likely to be reviewed than law-bound cases, lower court […]

Read More from Smith, Joseph. “Law, Fact, and the Threat of Reversal From Above.” American Politics Research, March 2014, Volume 42(2): 226-256.

Emigrants and the onset of civil war Gina Lei Miller, University of Alabama Emily Hencken Ritter, University of California, Merced Abstract We propose that emigrants affect the likelihood of civil war onset in their state of origin by influencing the willingness of individuals to join rebel movements and the probability that the state and rebels will be unable to reach a mutually acceptable bargain to avoid conflict in three ways. First, migrants communicating with actors at home facilitate valid comparisons […]

Read More from Gina Lei Miller and Emily Hencken Ritter, “Emigrants and the onset of civil war.” Journal of Peace Research January 2014 51: 51-64