May 2014 - The Quantitative Peace

Political Science advice for Queen Elsa of Disney’s ‘Frozen’

May 26, 2014 by Ben Farrer

*spoiler alert*

What does Queen Elsa have planned for Arendelle?

Ben is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at Knox College. He received his PhD in Political Science from Binghamton University in 2014. Ben was previously a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and previously held a research position in the Department of Political Science at Fordham University. His research and teaching interests are centered around parties and interest groups, particularly those from under-represented constituencies. A great deal of his work deals with the political organizations of the environmental movement. He studies both American and Comparative politics.

Two Lessons Voters Learned This Week

March 16, 2026May 22, 2014 by Julie VanDusky-Allen

FutUndBeidl via Compfight 1. Do not take selfies in a voting booth. You could inadvertently photograph your own ballot or someone else’s ballot. You have the right to vote by secret ballot- make sure to keep it that way. 2. Voters who live in states that require voter identification cards- make sure to bring your identification … Read more

The Rise, Decline, and Rebirth of Extra-State Conflicts

May 15, 2014 by Michael A. Allen

NMCB-3 participates in an eight-day jungle training program.

Official U.S. Navy Page via Compfight In the most recent update to the Correlates of War (COW) War databases (update to v4.0), the COW project added a new category of war to include wars between non-state actors, bringing us up to a total of four different types of wars: Inter-state, Intra-state, Extra-state, and Non-state wars. For those who are … Read more

The Spatial and Demographic Determinants of Racial Threat

March 16, 2026May 13, 2014 by Joshua Zingher

Does familiarity with members of out-groups breed contempt or acceptance? The relationship between the geographic distribution of ethnic and racial minorities and white attitudes has been the subject of considerable academic debate since V.O. Key’s 1949 landmark Southern Politics. In Southern Politics, Key advanced the claim that white racial conservatism was the strongest in places … Read more

Military Deployments, Human Development, and Growth

April 13, 2026May 8, 2014 by Michael Flynn

The deployment of US military forces has received a bump in attention over the past year or two. Most recently, as Michael Allen has discussed, US military forces were deployed to Poland in response to the deteriorating situation in Ukraine. In 2011 President Obama sent 100 US military personnel to Uganda to help track Joseph … Read more

Barriers to Market Entry, the Informal Sector and Growth

April 13, 2026May 6, 2014 by Michael Touchton

My first post for the Quantitative Peace highlights the pervasive problem registering a business poses for economic development around the world. Entrepreneurs in developing countries often operate in the informal marketplace: transactions occur in a cash economy, taxes are rarely collected and enterprises are not represented in any formal, legal sense. These countries feature vibrant … Read more

What Role Does Age Play In Presidential Elections?

May 4, 2014May 4, 2014 by Ben Farrer

Marc Nozell via Compfight With Hilary Clinton seemingly poised to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2016, a fair amount has been written on her age (see, for example, http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/21/opinion/frum-hillary-clinton-double-standard/ ). She’s been in the public eye for a long time, which probably explains part of this commentary, and it also seems likely … Read more

The United States is Still a Democracy

May 3, 2014 by Julie VanDusky-Allen

In the last few weeks, several media outlets have reported on a new study on American democracy by Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page . The headlines include: “Study: The US is an oligarchy, not a democracy” “It’s Official: America is an Oligarchy and NOT a Democracy” “Princeton Concludes What Kind of Government America Really Has, … Read more