What's Current in

Politics + Law

Christopher Parker, Black man with yellow background and abstract effect
Photo Credit
Photo illustration by Matt Perko
Carnegie Fellow Christopher Parker, a UCSB political science professor, researches how polarization affects communities of color.

Political scientist Christopher Parker named a Carnegie Fellow

Read Article

fist punch to gavel in front of red curtain
Photo Credit
Illustration by Matt Perko
In “Fighting Mad,” UCSB professor Laury Oaks examines how infant surrender policies are being used to justify restrictions on reproductive choice—and the ongoing fight for reproductive justice in the post-Roe era.

What baby safe haven laws reveal about reproductive justice
illustration of a group of hands holding up the symbol for female

Abortion rights backlash and globalization
Leah Stokes on a chair holding a plant
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
UC Santa Barbara associate professor Leah Stokes researches public policy, public opinion and political behavior, with a focus on energy, environment and climate change.

Leah Stokes receives the prestigious Schneider Award for Outstanding Science Communication

Bridging divided views to strengthen communities
Sandinistos getting off a helicopter
Photo Credit
Wikicommons
Helicopter-borne units of an FSLN counterinsurgency battalion landing in the middle of the tropical forest.

Study of Nicaragua’s Sandinistas argues for multilevel analysis of civil war violence
an illustration of a black woman as the statue of liberty

From Juneteenth to reparations: The ongoing journey for racial justice
In Focus placeholder

Grad Slam Showcase finalists to compete in final round on April 5 
In Focus placeholder

Climate change policies lose popularity when combined with pausing regulations or social justice
Jigna Desai - a woman with dark hair and glasses with brown skin
Photo Credit
Jeff Liang
Professor Jigna Desai, director of UCSB's Center for Feminist Futures

Center for Feminist Futures: A commitment to liberatory knowledge and action
man in sweater with grey white hair inside a black sculpture's shadow
Photo Credit
Debra Herrick
Nelson Lichtenstein

Historian Nelson Lichtenstein: Clinton betrayed progressives, capitulated to the right
A person walks past a Vote Here sign in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Photo Credit
Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia
Climate concerns likely gave Democrats the White House in 2020

US voters’ climate change opinions swing elections
Giuliana Perrone photographed in black and white outdoors in sunlight
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
Giuliana Perrone, October 2023

Freedom in the aftermath of slavery: historian Giuliana Perrone tracks the failures of American law
Subscribe to Politics + Law