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

Some early studying during the opening week of the Spring 2026 semester (Josh Hawkins/UNLV).
Campus News |

A look at some of the most eye-grabbing headlines featuring UNLV faculty, staff, and students.

Fall colors 2025
Campus News |

Some of the biggest news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

Students on campus.
Campus News |

A selection of top news headlines featuring UNLV faculty and students.

White woman with long brown hair wearing a dark jacket with Class of 2008 emblem and white, black, and red shorts and red shoes poses while sitting on grass with her back against the wheel of a red cannon outside the UNLV football complex
People |

Whether uplifting small businesses, supporting her alma mater, or championing student success as a Nevada regent, this year’s Achievement in Service Award recipient is happy to lend a helping hand.

White man in light-colored plaid button-down shirt and blue jeans sitting on a bench under a steel metal structure surrounded by colorful trees and plants
People |

More than a quarter-century ago, Andrew Belanger landed an internship with the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s public services department — the same department the Honors College Alumnus of the Year now runs.

First day of classes.
Campus News |

The top news stories starring university students and staff.

Political Science In The News

Wall Street Journal

Democrats in Congress led the charge to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. Now, prominent party power brokers and allies are paying a price, losing their jobs and seeing their reputations tarnished as a result of information in the documents.

Central News Agency

OpenAI, the developer of the chatbot ChatGPT, released a report indicating that the Chinese government used ChatGPT to generate images and text to launch cyberattacks. Scholar Austin Horng-En Wang pointed out today that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) has made related cyberattacks and cognitive warfare larger in scale and lower in cost.

KTNV-TV: ABC 13

If you've ever wanted to make a suggestion for a new law, now just might be your chance. The Southern Nevada Forum held its initial meeting on Monday, with the goal of coming up with a dozen new ideas to fix problems faced by residents of the Las Vegas Valley. The 13-year-old organization — created by the Vegas Chamber, the City of Las Vegas, Brookings Mountain West and former Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick in 2013 — brings together lawmakers and community leaders to brainstorm ideas.

Reno Gazette-Journal

Rep. Mark Amodei’s recent decision to retire opens a Northern Nevada House seat long considered untouchable – giving Democrats a rare chance to test Republican dominance in the state’s most conservative congressional district. Political scientists say midterm backlash, economic pressure and weak candidates can sometimes turn “safe” districts into November surprises.

The Vision Times

Taiwanese researchers and security officials are sounding the alarm after CCP-linked content farms were caught using AI-generated propaganda, while accidentally leaving behind prompts showing the posts were tailored specifically for Taiwanese audiences

Nevada Independent

About 44 percent of the money came through a legal maneuver that experts say skirt the spirit of campaign finance limits. Democrat Aaron Ford was less reliant.

Political Science Experts

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An expert on judges, judicial selection, and race and gender bias.
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An expert in international security, immigration and refugee policies, and political violence.
An expert on Latin American politics, with a focus on NAFTA and the Mexican and North American automobile industry.
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Recent Political Science Accomplishments

Austin Horng-En Wang's (Political Science) research on cognitive warfare and espionage was cited in a legislative proposal introduced by a Member of the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan. In the proposal, the legislator referenced Wang’s research to urge Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense to develop more comprehensive preventive measures aimed at…
Austin Horng-En Wang (Political Science) published an article, "U.S.-China Competition for Artificial Intelligence Markets", with RAND Corporation. This article analyzes the global LLM traffic and show that (1) US-based LLM dominance, 93% of global traffic, (2) DeepSeek increased China-based LLM global share from 3% to 13% within one month,…
Austin Horng-En Wang (Political Science) published an op-ed, "How Social Media Transparency Strengthens Geopolitical Stability in East Asia," in The Diplomat. This article reviews the recent transparency policy change on X and Threads, and analyzes how these changes successfully reduced the impact of cognitive warfare on Taiwan and Japan…
Jared Oestman (Political Science) and Tim Passmore (Political Science, Virginia Military Institute) published "Populism's Challenge to International Institutions: The Case of UN Peacekeeping" in International Studies Quarterly. The article shows that countries with right-wing populist leaders significantly underpay on mandatory annual assessments…
Austin Horng-En Wang, Darrell Carter, Naseem Benjelloun, Dhritiman Banerjee, and Sydney Cervantes (Political Science) published an article, "Polarized by moderates", in Social Science Research. This article is a collaboration between faculty and students. This article proposes a new measure in the level of political polarization,…
Rebecca Gill (Political Science) and her colleagues published "Legislating in the First Female Majority State Legislature: Gendered Power, Leadership, and Patterns of Sponsorship and Cosponsorship" in Political Research Quarterly. The article analyzes legislator behavior in the Nevada legislature from 2013-2023. This piece is part of a larger…