UCI will mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with a traveling photography exhibit and a four-day conference. "Icons of a Border Installation," running through Nov. 2 in the Student Center, features images of wall remnants in unified Berlin. A conference called "1989: 20 Years After" is set for Nov. 5-8 and will feature a keynote address by Leszek Balcerowicz, Poland's first post-communism finance minister. The photo exhibit is hosted by the German department and sponsored by the Goethe Institute of San Francisco. UCI's Center for the Study of Democracy is hosting the conference.   More »

The U.S. could learn a lot from other countries when it comes to human rights, according to a new book by Alison Brysk, UC Irvine political science professor. In "Global Good Samaritans," Brysk provides a comparative look at human rights practices around the world. Canada sits at the top of the list, partly due to its compassion toward refugees and generous foreign aid. The book praises Sweden and the Netherlands as historic leaders in human rights and highlights Japan and South Africa as up-and-coming promoters of human rights. Brysk discussed the book at the International Studies Association's annual meeting Feb. 17 in New York.   More »

UC Irvine faculty, students and staff marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – a document that laid the foundation for international human rights law – with a public reading and teach-in Dec. 10. The declaration set out to recognize the inherent dignity of all people, although parts of the world fall short of full social and economic protection for their citizens, said Alison Brysk, (pictured) director of UCI’s Human Rights Program. “From genocide in Darfur to refugees in North Korea, from torture at Guantanamo Bay to political prisoners in Iran, human rights still are threatened around the world,” Brysk said. According to Kevin Olson, political science associate professor the document is as relevant today as it was in 1948. “It's only now coming into its proper place on the international scene,” he said. Graduate students and undergraduate representatives of Amnesty International and Invisible Children joined in the event.   More »

An era of mass migrations, porous borders and easily obtained fraudulent documents is blurring the definition of citizenship and putting national security at risk around the globe, says UC Irvine political science professor Kamal Sadiq in his new book, "Paper Citizens: How Illegal Immigrants Acquire Citizenship in Developing Countries." The book is now available through Oxford University Press. Sadiq’s research focuses on “documentary citizenship” – immigrants’ use of forged documents or illegally obtained authentic passports to prove residency or citizenship. Weak and erratic bureaucracies in developing countries allow fake documents to flourish. The result is a thriving underground process for attaining citizenship.   More »

UC Irvine political scientist Etel Solingen has been awarded a $50,000 grant from the Carnegie Corp. to examine the effects of positive and negative inducements on preventing nuclear proliferation. The research is timely in light of the debate over Iran's nuclear policy. Last weekend, diplomats from six countries, including the United States, met with Iran to propose an incentive-laced package that, if accepted, could lead to a suspension of the country's uranium enrichment program. By studying which actions have discouraged other nations' nuclear development, Solingen hopes to contribute to successful nonproliferation policy. Some preliminary results of her study will be released in 2009, before the crucial 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.   More »

Louis DeSipio, political science associate professor at UC Irvine, will examine trends in voter-supported bans on state affirmative action programs thanks to a $50,000 grant from the nonprofit Public Interest Projects. Using data from entrance and exit polling, DeSipio and UC Berkeley researchers Lydia Chavez and Andres Jimenez will determine how factors such as demographics, media and special advocacy and interest groups impacted voter decisions about affirmative action in California, Washington and Michigan. DeSipio says the findings should be of interest to both pro- and anti-affirmative action groups looking to sway the November elections in states like Arizona, Nebraska and Colorado, where anti-affirmative action ballot initiatives are in the works.   More »

When it comes to faculty gender equity, academia earns a “needs improvement,” according to a new UC Irvine study. "Gender inequities and discrimination toward women in academia exist both at the individual and institutional level,” said Kristen Monroe, political science and philosophy professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, who interviewed female faculty at UCI for the study. She found the culture devalues the authority of women in high-level positions and leaves little room for flexible work-family alternatives, and the issues are not unique to the campus. Published in the June issue of the American Political Science Association’s Perspectives of Politics, the study was funded in part by the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program, which seeks to increase the representation and advancement of women in academia.   More »

Is personal Internet use at work strictly the domain of low-paid employees? A recent study co-written by UC Irvine political science professor James Danziger offers some surprising findings about who spends the most time surfing the Web on company time. According to the study, "cyberslacking" is more frequent among those with higher workplace status. In particular, highly paid managers and professionals, as well as employees with greater workplace autonomy, spend substantially more time online for personal purposes during the workday than those below them in the workplace hierarchy. The study also found men are more likely to use the Internet for non-work purposes than women. The study appears in the Journal Cyberpsychology and Behavior.   More »

Employers who worry that instant messaging causes disruptions at work might consider a new study co-written by UC Irvine political science professor James Danziger that shows instant messaging actually has the opposite effect – and lowers workplace interruptions. The study found workers who used instant messaging on the job avoided more disruptive forms of communication such as the telephone, e-mail and unexpected office “drop-ins.” Instant messaging also allowed workers to get quick answers to general questions, control when and how they communicate with colleagues and postpone responses to a more convenient time. The study, published in the recent Journal of Computer Mediated Communications, involved 912 people who worked at least 30 hours per week and used the computer for at least five hours a day.   More »

Rein Taagepera, professor emeritus of political science at UC Irvine, has been awarded the Johan Skytte Prize for his analysis of the function of electoral systems in representative democracy. The Skytte Foundation is based at Uppsala University in Sweden and awards the prize annually to the scholar who has made the most valuable contribution to political science. Taagepera will accept the award and a $75,000 prize at a ceremony in Sweden in September.   More »

New research by UC Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman suggests shifts in political party control over the U.S. House, Senate and Presidency occur roughly every 14 years. The study, published in the February issue of the American Political Science Review, found that cycles of support for the Republican or Democratic parties, and the shifts in party control that accompany them, occur more frequently than previously thought. Conventional wisdom has been that party dominance cycles roughly every 30 years. Grofman's study, conducted with Samuel Merrill, III (Wilkes University) and Thomas Brunell (University of Texas at Dallas), explores party dominance from 1856-2006 and looks at whether realignment cycles actually exist; if change is random or regular and whether the cycle interval is the same for the U.S. House, Senate, and Presidency; and whether observers can identify the forces that drive these cycles. According to the study, the recent Republican ascendancy is likely soon to be replaced by Democratic ascendancy.   More »

UC Irvine researchers Liane Brouillette, educational leadership professor, and Kristen Monroe (pictured), political science professor, have received an $828,000 grant from the California Postsecondary Education Commission for a project aimed at improving English and arts education in kindergarten through second grade classrooms. The four-year grant period involves 180 teachers and more than 7,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District. Brouillette and Monroe will develop curriculum and provide professional development training for teachers on how to incorporate art into classroom lessons as a way to strengthen students' English language skills. Storytelling, drawing, music and other creative activities will be used to reinforce language skills.   More »

UC Irvine political science professor Bernard Grofman will be the inaugural Jack W. Peltason Endowed Chair, named for the former UC president and UC Irvine Chancellor. The chair was established in November with a $1 million donation. Grofman also is the new director of the Center for the Study of Democracy. A leading authority on representation, voting rights and redistricting, Grofman has served as an expert witness in key court cases around the country. His current research focuses on how the U.S. compares with other major democracies in terms of institutions, values and public policies. He plans to continue his research in this area with funds established through the Peltason Chair.   More »