Princeton University Department of Politics

Charles Hey-Maestre

Princeton dedicated Prospect House spaces in honor of faculty, alumni and others who “helped to shape the University and the world” including Politics alum Charles Hey-Maestre ’77 who spent his legal career fighting for the rights of underserved and marginalized people in Puerto Rico. bit.ly/4oEUh1f

Trump’s White House overhaul fits a global trend among far-right populists | Jan-Werner Müller The president’s move is less an example of American exceptionalism than part of a familiar pattern

"Trump’s disfiguring the White House fits into a larger global trend: far-right populist leaders in many countries have used spectacular architecture to advance their political agenda" Jan-Werner Müller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social writes for @theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Quote If the best and brightest are not serving, then who will serve and who will fill the vacuum? The realm of politics has lost its civility, and for politics to continue to do the job of a good society, we must work to bring civility back into politics. Amaney Jamal, Politics Professor and SPIA Dean

Politics Professor and Dean of Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs Amaney Jamal presented "Dialogue in Action: Leading for the Public Good" as part of Princeton Graduate School's Many Minds, Many Stripes conference. #ManyMinds
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Tariffs on Indian goods make Diwali celebrations in U.S. more expensive this year Diwali, the festival of lights, will be celebrated around the world Monday, but steep tariffs on Indian goods made preparing for the holiday more costly for people living in the U.S.

Layna Mosley @laynamosley.bsky.social speaks with @NPR on tariffs impact on Diwali celebrations in the US.
www.npr.org/2025/10/20/n...

Leonard Wantchekon

Professor Leonard Wantchekon Addresses the United Nations General Assembly Second Committee on Economic & Financial Affairs
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How the Democrats Can “Win” the US Government Shutdown Jan-Werner Mueller urges the party to adhere to some key lessons about confronting would-be autocrats.

"This is not about this or that policy; it is about a chief executive governing according to his whims, with impunity and obvious disregard for the US Constitution."
@jwmueller-pu.bsky.social writes for @projectsyndicate.bsky.social
bit.ly/43bKHum

I Saw the Constitution | National Review Its physical appearance was underwhelming. But we cherish the Constitution because of the ideas it contains, not for its physical form.

"Our Constitution doesn’t need gilded letters, since those would only be distractions from the true content." Abigail Anthony '23 writes for National Review
www.nationalreview.com/corner/i-saw...

Princeton SPIA Faculty React to U.S. Government Shutdown "The shutdown is a striking example of contemporary 'blame game politics.' When you play the blame game, you act to cast an opponent in the worst possible light in front of voters. Here, somewhat unusually, both sides are playing the blame game as hard as they can - and very likely to succeed. If so, voters, like Mercutio, will cast 'a curse on both your houses.' Unfortunately, it will be the federal employees and those dependent on affected federal programs, especially the health insurance exchanges, who will bear real costs of the theatrics." Charles Cameron, Professor of Politics and Public Affairs

Check out my new piece on Moldovan 🇲🇩 elections with @grigopop.bsky.social

Professor Jan-Werner Müller gesturing at a presentation screen showing the proposed design for Ground Zero during class.

We speak with Politics Professor Jan-Werner Müller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social about what political science can contribute to a better understanding of architecture. #WorldArchitectureDay
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🚨🚨 I’m thrilled to share that my book, Return of Tyranny: Why Counterrevolutions Emerge and Succeed, will be published this month with @cambup-polsci.cambridge.org in their Comparative Politics Series

Karthick Ramakrishnan *02 POL - Many Minds, Many Stripes Karthick Ramakrishnan has served in leadership roles that span academia, government, public policy and philanthropy. He has written seven books and is a sought-after expert on public opinion and socia...

Politics Grad Alum Karthick Ramakrishnan *02 @karthick.com
Executive Director and Researcher @aapidata.bsky.social @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social will be presenting on Parenting in a Digital Age.
manyminds.alumni.princeton.edu/speakers/kar...

Many Minds, Many Stripes A Princeton University conference celebrating graduate alumni, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of the Graduate School. October 9-11, 2025

October 9-11, Princeton will host “Many Minds, Many Stripes: A Princeton University Conference Celebrating Graduate Alumni,” coinciding with the Princeton Graduate School’s 125th anniversary.

All alumni are invited to attend. Register now: manyminds.alumni.princeton.edu

Princeton-backed innovation hub launches in Kenya to plug skills gap PASER aims to create a new model for development where municipalities and devolved governments use data-driven research to train a new generation of professionals and attract investment.

"This hub is an instrument for empowering communities to build their own evidence-based solutions, moving beyond aid to self-reliant development."
Prof. Leonard Wantchekon explained of The Princeton-African School of Economics Research at the 2025 Devolution Conference.

bit.ly/4gGYIWI

Introducing Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness Podcast for Introducing Pursuit: The Founders’ Guide to Happiness from the National Constitution Center

"They put into place in our Constitution a system of structural constraints on power knowing that no one, given the nature of human beings, could be trusted with unchecked and unaccountable power." Robert George on the Pursuit podcast @constitutionctr.bsky.social
bit.ly/4pHECjh

Infographic Dahyun Choi against a chevron inspired background of Princeton's black and orange. Dahyun Choi American Politics, Political Economy, Quantitative Methods Expertise: Governance and Regulation, Bureaucratic Politics and Interest Groups, American Political Institutions, Political Methodology Dissertation: Essays on the Strategic Use of Expertise in the Administrative State Committee: Nolan McCarty, Charles Cameron, Brandon Stewart Princeton University Logo. Princeton Politics Logo.

Dahyun Choi @dahyunchoi.bsky.social studies how private and public organizations strategically use expertise in the U.S. administrative state. Her job market paper shows that while high-quality studies remain resilient to political turnover, partisan bias still shapes which evidence agencies use.

The 2025 Kellogg Biennial Lecture in Jurisprudence: Dr. Robert George | In Custodia Legis Please join the Law Library of Congress, in-person and virtually, for the 2025 Kellogg Lecture in Jurisprudence on October 9, 2025, presented by Dr. Robert George.

Professor Robert George to give The 2025 Kellogg Biennial Lecture in Jurisprudence of the Library of Congress.

blogs.loc.gov/law/2025/09/...

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Advises Princeton Students to Work Hard for Their Passions | Princeton School of Public and International Affairs “When you’re trying to figure out what you want to do with your life, the key question is, ‘What am I willing to work for?’” Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson advised students on her first-e...

"I would probably focus quite a bit on academic freedom, on knowledge. That is really the root of all things in terms of liberty — which is really the core of what we're trying to do with the democratic process, to preserve liberty.”
- Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson

Aaron Friedberg: The Trump Administration's Surprising China Policy - Conversations with Bill Kristol On the second Trump administration’s surprising China policy

Aaron Friedberg @alf2014.bsky.social discusses the current geopolitical situation and the threat posed by China on the podcast Conversations with Bill Kristol. @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social

bit.ly/3VYqe8s

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She finds that the establishment of constituent-focused political institutions by rebel groups insulates them from the worst forms of negative intervention and increases the likelihood that they will receive international support.

Website: sites.google.com/princeton.ed...

Infographic Manasi Bose against a chevron inspired background of Princeton's black and orange. Manasi Bose Comparative Politics, International Relations Expertise: Rebel Governance, International Intervention, Civil War, Security Studies, Middle East Politics Dissertation: Rebel Governance and International Engagement: The Material Payoffs of Rebel Political Institutionalization Committee: Amaney Jamal, Kristopher Ramsay, Christopher Blair Princeton University Logo. Princeton Politics Logo.

In her dissertation, Manasi ‪@manasibose.bsky.social examines international responses to rebel governance and uses the case study of HTS in Syria to address the question of why groups with no expectation of legitimacy or legal recognition engage in costly political institutionalization.

Health and Politics in the Aftermath of COVID-19 This seminar will take stock of how data, evidence, communications, and politics shaped pandemic-era health policy and the politics of today.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, officials relied on rapidly evolving science and data to make high-stakes decisions. Join @upenn.edu and our Prof. Lee for a seminar discussing the health, social, & economic impacts of those choices.
ldi.upenn.edu/events/healt...

Jeannie Suk Gersen Professor, Harvard Law School and Contributor, The New Yorker Constitution Day Lecture Our Civil Rights Revolution We are in the midst of a civil rights revolution involving all the branches of government and major institutions of civil society including universities. What does the transformation portend? September 17 5:00-6:15pm McCosh 50 Sponsored by Program in Law and Normative Thinking and James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions Princeton University Public Lectures http://lectuures.princeton.edu

Join us today, from 5-6:30PM in McCosh Hall 50 for the annual Princeton University Constitution Day Lecture, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program, titled, "Our Civil Rights Revolution."

The lecture will feature Jeannie Suk Gersen of @harvard.edu and an introduction by Prof. Robert George.

Infographic Yun Nancy Tang against a chevron inspired background of Princeton's black and orange. Yun (Nancy) Tang American Politics, Comparative Politics Expertise: Chinese Politics, Gender and Sexuality Politics, Law and Social Movements, Authoritarian Politics Dissertation Book Project Making Autocracy Queer: A Dance in “Law” Between LGBTQ Movements and Authoritarian States in China and Singapore Committee: Rory Truex (chair), Tanushree Goyal, Deborah Yashar, Kristopher Velasco Princeton University Logo. Princeton Politics Logo.

2024 APSA Kenneth Sherrill Prize recipient @nancyyuntang.bsky.social studies how authoritarian regimes and LGBTQ movements interact through the "law", whose job market paper explores how Chinese feminist and queer movements advance non-heteronormative reproduction under state pro-natalism.

Ironically, these policies of control become opportunity structures for activists who mobilize in these punished places to win elections, to instigate protests, and even to foment revolutions.

Infographic Hani F. Abdel-Warith against a chevron inspired background of Princeton's black and orange. Hani F. Abdel-Warith Comparative Politics Expertise: Historical Political Economy, State-formation, MENA Politics, Contentious Politics Book Project: Fellahin into Frenchmen: Civic Licensing and Stratification in the Postcolonial Maghreb Committee: Amaney Jamal, Mark Beissinger, Elizabeth Nugent Princeton University Logo. Princeton Politics Logo.

In his dissertation book project, Hani F. Abdel-Warith demonstrates that autocrats in the Middle East and North Africa punish their opponents by withholding schools from restive regions.

Jeff Staton presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Charles Cameron 🏆👏 Congratulations to Dr. Cameron on this well-deserved honor and thank you for your extraordinary contributions to our field!

Free tickets: From Tyranny to Athenian Democracy
👉gres.hm/tyranny-demo...

Prof Melissa Lane* traces Athenian democracy to 508 BCE, when a popular uprising toppled a tyrant & Cleisthenes’ reforms reshaped politics, identity & society

*also of @princeton.bsky.social / @princetonpolitics.bsky.social

Infographic Hiroto Sawada against a chevron inspired background of Princeton's black and orange. Princeton Politics 2025 Job Market Candidates. Hiroto Sawada International Relations Formal Theory Expertise: International Relations, Formal Political Theory, Climate and Conflict Dissertation: Conflict under the Shadow of External Shocks Committee: Kristopher Ramsay, Germán Gieczewski, Christopher Blair Princeton University Logo. Princeton Politics Logo.

In his job market paper, @hirotosawada.bsky.social presents a formal model to explain (i) when a climate disaster triggers armed conflict and (ii) why empirical evidence on climate and conflict seems mixed. His research can be found at hiroto-sawada.github.io.

Violence As Policy in Trump’s America Jan-Werner Mueller argues that the murder of Charlie Kirk has highlighted the fundamental asymmetry of contemporary US politics.

"The horrendous killing of the far-right activist Charlie Kirk has been met with calming, statesman-like responses on both sides of the political aisle. But it has also demonstrated yet again the fundamental asymmetry of contemporary American politics." Prof. Jan-Werner Müller writes

bit.ly/4nS3HGz