A female student holding a microphone towards another female student to ask questions at a political debate.

Department of Political Science News

The Department of Political Science is dedicated to excellence in research, teaching, and service. Our students learn and receive mentorship from faculty members who specialize in various subjects including American politics, comparative politics, international politics, political theory, public law, and public policy.

Current Political Science News

Undergrad researcher Benjamin Sabir helps H. Jeremy Cho examine an atmospheric water harvesting device. (Jeff Scheid/UNLV)
Campus News |

A monthly roundup of the top news stories featuring UNLV staff and students.

Students pass by Lied Library as they walk campus on the first day of Fall 2024 semester classes
Campus News |

A collection of news highlights featuring students and faculty.

UNLV campus
Campus News |

Brookings foreign policy expert and UNLV faculty to discuss Southern border relationship as part of free public lecture series.

Mirage Resort
Campus News |

Roundup of the hottest news headlines featuring UNLV students and staff.

Josh Hawkins, UNLV
Campus News |

News highlights featuring UNLV students and staff who made (refreshing) waves in the headlines.

UNLV banner with a plane flying in background
People |

The program will help Alejandro Rios prepare for career in immigrant and refugee advocacy.

Political Science In The News

Voice of America

Nevada Swing State Insights.

Voice of America

Nevada Swing State Insights.

Las Vegas Weekly

Since Donald Trump arrived on the national scene, the women of America have been central to the fight to keep him from amassing power. On January 21, 2017, the day after Trump’s thinly-attended inauguration, hundreds of thousands of women flocked to the streets of Washington, D.C. for the worldwide Women’s March, protesting the ascension of an acknowledged sexual predator who would be found liable for rape years later.

Las Vegas Review Journal

Las Vegas celebrity Dan Bilzerian has shoveled mounds of money into Nevada politics, allowed by a legal loophole that lets him give the maximum over and over again to the same candidate through corporate entities, records and interviews show.

Daily Mail

She loves raisin bran and exercise, and is as comfortable talking about abortion as she is about beer. Meet Kamala Harris -- or at least a rather different side that emerged in an unconventional US media blitz this week. After weeks of largely avoiding interviews since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris has taken a leaf out of rival Donald Trump's playbook and started speaking to a host of podcasters and friendly outlets.

KVVU-TV: Fox 5

Question 1 on the Nevada ballot proposes amendments to modify the authorities of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents. Another election means another go at trying to make question one a law. It failed in 2020.

Political Science Experts

An expert on politics, elections, and the American party system. 
An expert in competitive debate, policy debate, argumentation and persuasion, and presidential and political debates.
An expert in political philosophy, and the intersection of politics and religion.
An expert in the politics of Europe and other democracies.
An expert on judges, judicial selection, and race and gender bias.
An expert in foreign policy and international security.

Recent Political Science Accomplishments

The Department of Political Science hosted the 66th Annual Conference of the American Association for Chinese Studies (AACS2024) on October 4-6. The conference covers China, Taiwan, Chinese-speaking communities, and the Chinese diaspora. Scholars and students from Japan, Poland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the U.S. attended…
Andrew Lugg (Political Science) recently published the article "Globaloney: Extended Party Networks and the Dissemination of Anti-Globalization Insults" in the journal Political Research Quarterly with co-author Zachary Scott. The article uses social media data examining the "globalist" insult to show how party-affiliated factions…
Austin Horng-En Wang (Political Science) published an op-ed, "As the TPP Faces Controversy, Will Third Parties Disappear From Taiwan Politics?" in The Diplomat. In this article, Wang analyzed the 2024 Taiwan Presidential and Congressional elections and recent surveys, and argued that many Taiwanese voters will still support the third…
Annie Vong (Lincy Institute; Brookings Mountain West), Zachary Billot (Lincy Institute; Brookings Mountain West), and Nicole Dias Del Valle (Political Science; Philosophy Law & Justice; Brookings Public Policy) recently co-authored a Brookings Institution blog post titled, "Youth voices in the 2024 election: What students want to see on the…
Ben Farrer (Political Science) published "Assessing how energy companies negotiate with landowners when obtaining land for hydraulic fracturing" in Nature: Energy. The article shows the different tactics used by energy companies in order to get permission to begin horizontal drilling. More details are provided in some media coverage.
Austin Horng-En Wang (Political Science) co-authored the article, "Taiwanese Support for Self-Defense after the Russo–Ukrainian War," in Asian Survey. In this article, Wang and others analyzed the a series of representative surveys in Taiwan right before and after the 2022 Russo-Ukraininan War, and found that Taiwanese people polarized…