Month: August 2013

Human Rights in 2011: The CIRI Report

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The CIRI Human Rights Data Project, which I co-direct with David Cingranelli and David Richards, has released its ratings of government respect for 16 internationally-recognized human rights in almost every country in the world for the year 2011.  The CIRI Project’s data stretch back, annually, to 1981 and can be freely accessed at www.humanrightsdata.org. This data release has also been accompanied by a number of changes at the CIRI Project.  A new country was added to the data for 2011 (South Sudan), and the project’s citation has changed.  Perhaps most importantly, CIRI’s release schedule has changed.  In the future, data Continue reading Human Rights in 2011: The CIRI Report→

History vs. Political Science? Temporally Constrained Studies and Generalizability.

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So this is my first post back from a prolonged break. As I mentioned in a previous—albeit brief—entry, I’ve had a busy but enjoyable summer. I got married, defended my dissertation at the beginning of July, and my wife and I have since relocated to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where I’ve accepted a position as a post-doc. We’re both pretty excited about the move and we’re really enjoying ourselves. Having grown up in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, summers that extend beyond a two month window have a certain appeal. And now that we’re getting settled in down here, I’m slowly Continue reading History vs. Political Science? Temporally Constrained Studies and Generalizability.→

Trading Statehood for Votes: The Early Decline of the Democratic Party in the Idaho

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Since I recently moved to Boise, I decided to learn more about the political history of Idaho. I discovered that there are several cases in the formation the Idaho political system that are relevant to the study of Comparative, American, and state politics today, and so I am going to devote a few blog posts to some interesting aspects of Idaho history. In this first blog post, I discuss the early rise and decline of the Democratic Party in Idaho. Today Idaho is one of the most Republican states in the country. It has the second largest percentage of Republicans in a Continue reading Trading Statehood for Votes: The Early Decline of the Democratic Party in the Idaho→

Updating the Introduction to International Relations Syllabus to 2.0

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Note: We are returning to a weekly blogging schedule. As such, if you still have us on your RSS reader, new content will be regular! ___ I am about to begin my fifth semester teaching introduction to international relations and it will be my third such offering at Boise State.  We are elevating the course to serve more advanced political science students and we now offer it at the 300 level instead of the 200.  Given this elevation in designation, prerequisites, and a new year of teaching the course, I am working to revamp my syllabus as well as make Continue reading Updating the Introduction to International Relations Syllabus to 2.0→