Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends of Eagleton: 

2020 will be remembered as a calamitous year in American history.  Public health remains under threat, social justice remains an elusive ideal, and our form of government has been -- literally -- under siege. The future of democracy is, for many, an open question. At Eagleton, we remain committed to answering that open question by recommitting emphatically to our mission to study politics, inspire engagement, and improve democracy. Our work has never been more relevant; our commitment to it has never been stronger. 

We are sustained in that commitment by the core values we have embraced. I am proud and grateful to the team of 23 Eagleton faculty, staff, and students—with critical early support and leadership from Visiting Associate Richard Roper—who dedicated countless hours over several months to thoughtful dialogue and development of these core values as well as to practical recommendations for how to embed and embody them in our work. I look forward to moving this long-term, sustained effort forward and encourage all members of our community, particularly when times are contentious and doubts creep in, to mark these core values and return to them as a touchstone of commitment and resilience. 

The Eagleton Institute of Politics is committed as an institution to the following: 

• Cultivating access and empowerment within the Institute and, by extension, our political system. We seek to identify and remove barriers to access and promote inclusion, which relies on our active and intentional efforts to remedy power inequities.
   
• Affirming the humanity of all people irrespective of their historic marginalization, identity, or socioeconomic status, through our teaching, research, and programming. We center historically marginalized voices and oppose policies and practices that discriminate against anyone on the basis of these historic and present realities. 
  
  
• Engaging in critical examination of systems of power and governance, including the ideals for, and practice of, democracy. 
  
  
• Promoting open and respectful exchange of ideas and perspectives that abides by the values listed above and preserves the safety and well-being of all participants. 
  
  
• Fostering interest in, and promoting, a broad range of engagement in politics, communities, and public service, by all members of society, especially our students. 

I hope you will join us in the hard work ahead as we aim to create the future of our democracy. 

John J. Farmer, Jr.
Director
Eagleton Institute of Politics

CAWP Funds Research Projects to Identify and Address Barriers and Opportunities to Women's Political Power

For nearly five decades, the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, has been committed to promoting greater knowledge and understanding about the role of women in American politics, enhancing women's influence in public life, and expanding the diversity of women in politics and government. Thanks to the generosity and commitment of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company founded by Melinda Gates, CAWP will fund nine research projects—including those conducted by advanced graduate students and faculty—in 2021 that help to identify and address barriers and opportunities to women's political power. Grant recipients are listed below and more information is available on CAWP's website.

"Combined, these nine funded projects represent an investment of nearly $180,000 into areas of research that have historically been under-valued and under-funded," said Debbie Walsh, CAWP Director. "This investment not only illuminates the importance of this scholarship to relevant disciplines, but we are hopeful that it will also result in actionable findings to promote women's political progress."

Doctoral Students

Intersectional Advocacy: How She Reconfigures the State
Margaret Teresa Brower, University of Chicago

Television News Media and Public Opinion towards Black Female Political Elites
Sydney L. Carr, University of Michigan

Faculty/Post-Graduates

Bridges: How Black Women Coordinate the Lawmaking Efforts of Identity-Based Caucuses
Nadia E. Brown, Ph.D., Purdue University
Christopher Clark, Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Anna Mitchell Mahoney, Ph.D., Tulane University

Conceptualizing Caregiving and its Consequences for Attitudes and Engagement
Ivy A.M. Cargile, Ph.D., California State University, Bakersfield
Jill S. Greenlee, Ph.D., Brandeis University
Jennifer L. Merolla, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside
Rachel VanSickle-Ward, Ph.D., Pitzer College

Addressing Women's Safety to Vote
Emily M. Farris, Ph.D., Texas Christian University

The U.S. Mayors Survey: Psychological Abuse and Physical Violence - The Longitudinal Perspective
Rebekah Herrick, Ph.D., Oklahoma State University
Sue Thomas, Ph.D., PIRE
Heidi Gerbracht, Equity Agenda
Ceri Jenkins, Mayors Innovation Project

Latina Leadership and Activism in Colorado
Celeste Montoya, Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder

Mujeres, Movidas, y Movimiento: Comparative Study of Latina Candidate Emergence and Political Mobilization in California and Texas
Anna Sampaio, Ph.D., Santa Clara University
Christina Bejarano, Ph.D., Texas Woman's University

Running for Justice? Understanding Black Women Judicial and Prosecutorial Candidates
Jamil Scott, Ph.D., Georgetown University

"Within the next two years, 38 states will hold gubernatorial elections, including two states - Virginia and New Jersey – who will hold gubernatorial elections in November 2021. These elections provide multiple opportunities for women. Nine women currently serve as governor and just 44 women have ever served in gubernatorial office in U.S. history. Candidates, including some potential women candidates, are already jockeying for the governors’ offices.

But running for office isn’t the only way women can participate in politics and wield power. Political donations provide critical resources that help candidates win elections and they signal that a candidate has support and the potential to be competitive.

Furthermore, research finds that candidates and party leaders are more attentive to the interests of political donors. The 2018 and 2020 election cycles demonstrated that women are emerging as a significant force as political donors, and the 2021 and 2022 races present an opportunity for women to flex that power and make their mark in gubernatorial elections."

How to Respond to the QAnon Threat

The Brookings Institute published an article co-authored by John J. Farmer, Jr., director of Eagleton and the Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience.

"As the violence on Jan. 6 made clear, no issue is more pressing to the health and functioning of American democracy than effectively and comprehensively tackling disinformation. A well-staffed and funded CDD can help citizens, government officials, and civil society groups to distinguish truth from falsehood and maintain a peaceful and pluralist liberal society. The Biden administration, civil society, and technology sector should make establishing such a public-private partnership a top priority."

The Miller Center partnered with the National Sheriffs Association and Criminal Justice Clearing House to host a webinar for nearly 2000 law enforcement officials about how disinformation fueled the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Paul Goldenberg, Miller Center senior fellow for transnational security, participated on a panel to provide and discuss resources for the law enforcement community to learn more about the intersection of political movements, law enforcement, technology, information, and the human psyche.

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