Chinemelu Okafor awarded Weatherhead Center Dissertation Writing Grant The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs has awarded Government Ph.D. Candidate Chinemelu Okafor its prestigious Dissertation Writing Grant for next semester. The grant is designed to release ...

Congratulations to Chinemelu Okafor, recipient of the @weatherheadcenter.bsky.social Dissertation Writing Grant. 👏 The funding will enable her to travel to Nigeria to conduct research that will serve as the foundation for the first chapter of her dissertation. #GovGrads buff.ly/8ohbnJ8

Six faculty named 2026 Guggenheim Fellows A total of six faculty were awarded Guggenheim Fellowships this week, drawing financial support for research related to everything from political theory to works of historical fiction.

Congratulations to Professor Daniel Ziblatt (@dziblatt.bsky.social) on being named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow! This prestigious award recognizes his outstanding contributions to the study of democracy and political institutions. #HarvardGov #AcademicExcellence buff.ly/EsCWxxT

Their winning poster titles:

📌 “Intergenerational Transmission of Extremist Political Socialization” – Noah Dasanaike

📌 “Alt-Right Media Is Entering Your Local School Board Meetings.” – Zehua Li

📌 “Selective Accountability: Is Corruption the Price of Democracy?” – Gabriela Armani

The annual Graduate Poster Session, an integral part of our grad admit visit, gives Ph.D. candidates a chance to share research and get feedback.

Congrats to this year’s winners:
🏆 Best Poster: Noah Dasanaike
🏆 Runner-up: Zehua Li
🏆 Audience Choice: Gabriela Armani

#HarvardGov #AcademicResearch

Veritalk: Steve Ansolabehere on elections, public opinion, and identity politics YouTube video by Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Stephen Ansolabehere has been profiled on Veritalk, describing his research on U.S. #elections, #publicopinion, and #energypolitics, identifying four major demographic groups that align strongly with political parties, alongside a broader “mosaic middle.” youtu.be/rv-GppSz5qg?...

Can corporate scandals reinvigorate democracy? - Niskanen Center Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee find that corporate scandals can often mobilize the public and wider interests to overcome big business power, including after the financial crisis.

Taeku Lee and co-author Pepper Culpepper joined The Niskanen Center’s Science of Politics podcast to discuss their new book "Billionaire Backlash" and how corporate scandals can spur democratic reform.

www.niskanencenter.org/can-corporat...

Exclusive poll: Here are the concerns about data centers It's not just about the electricity prices.

New Harvard/MIT poll, led by Stephen Ansolabehere, finds opposition to #datacenters isn’t mainly about electricity prices - it’s driven more by worries over how these massive projects could reshape local #communities. buff.ly/X6WGGjT

Celebrating Outstanding Mentors: The 2026 Everett I. Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award Ceremony Faculty, students, and administrators came together in Lehman Hall on March 26, 2026, to honor mentors who have made a profound impact on the scholars and scientists they serve.

Congratulations to Professor Katrina Forrester, recipient of the Everett I. Mendelsohn Excellence in Mentoring Award from Harvard Griffin GSAS for her extraordinary support of graduate students 👏 gsas.harvard.edu/news/celebra...

How Courts Undermine Democracy | Journal of Democracy The judiciary is widely assumed to defend democracy. Yet in reality, even when independent of elected governments, courts can endanger democracy—sometimes by enabling executives and sometimes by…

"Even when courts are independent of the government, the judiciary’s behavior frequently undermines democracy." Read Andrew O’Donohue's essay in the Journal of Democracy (@jodemocracy.bsky.social) 👇 www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/how...

Trump’s Authoritarian Regime’s Next Target: The 2026 Midterm Election How Democracies Die author and Harvard professor Steven Levitsky assesses Trump’s authoritarian regime’s next target: the 2026 midterm election and its impact on democracy and civil rights

A Between The Lines (@btlradionews.bsky.social) interview with Steven Levitsky (@stevelevitsky.bsky.social) warns that Trump’s authoritarian regime is targeting the 2026 midterm elections through gerrymandering, voter suppression, and election subversion tactics. btlonline.org/trumps-autho...

Joaquim Meira receives Samuelson Traveling Fellowship for yearlong research abroad Harvard Government Ph.D. Candidate Joaquim Meira has been awarded the Lee Whittinghill Samuelson Traveling Fellowship for the 2026–2027 academic year. The Samuelson Fellowship supports graduate studen...

Ph.D. Candidate Joaquim Meira has been awarded the
@gsas.harvard.edu Lee Whittinghill Samuelson Traveling Fellowship for the 2026–2027 academic year. 👏 #HarvardGov #GovGrads www.gov.harvard.edu/2026/03/16/j...

A multi-scenario suitability framework for relocation planning: the case of post-wildfire Maui Maui Island experienced a devastating wildfire in August 2023. Given the continued displacement in 2025 and growing threats from climate-related hazar…

Connie Chen has co-authored a new GIS-based study on post-wildfire Maui, identifying priority relocation sites by integrating hazard risks, community and economic ties, and zoning to guide resilient, conflict-aware urban growth. ➡️ buff.ly/gRP46Mv

This Wednesday (3/18) at 7pm, Taeku Lee (@taekulee.bsky.social) and Pepper Culpepper will be discussing their new book 'Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How it Could Save Democracy' at @harvardbookstore.bsky.social ➡️ www.harvard.com/event/culpep...

Protest Matters: The Effects of Protests on Economic Redistribution Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Ph.D. Candidate Chinemelu Okafor has published her first working paper, titled Protest Matters: The Effects of Protests on Economic Redistribution, in NBER www.nber.org/papers/w34787 #GovGrads

Ever wondered who the first woman to receive tenure in @harvardgovdept.bsky.social was? Well… it was none other than Judith Shklar! Find out more about her life and ideas in the latest episode of @herplacepod.bsky.social!
#politicaltheory #judithshklar #harvard #liberalism

#GovGrad Max Kuhelj Bugaric has published an article in Journal of the History of International Law / Revue d'histoire du droit international, titled 'Papal Jurisdiction and War as Judgment under the ius gentium' brill.com/view/journal...

A Philosopher ‘Prophet’

"Sandel is the closest thing political philosophy has to a rock star. He’s known, in particular, for his Socratic style of moral questioning." Read the @nytimes.com piece 👉 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/b...