Law, Politics and Society

Christopher Koliba, University of Kansas public affairs and administration researcher, has published a new study examining how the COVID-19 pandemic response and perpetuation of false claims about the 2020 presidential election were critical events in declining democratic accountability standards. Scholars and others have important work to do in documenting such cases to learn the effects of democratic backsliding, according to Koliba.

New research from the University of Kansas investigates how women employed in the public sector regulate emotions in professional settings. The study found respondents suppress negative emotions more than positive but that efforts to suppress such emotions for professional reasons are not always effective, stifling authenticity.

Raj Bhala, University Distinguished Professor of Law at KU, has written an analysis outlining how international trade law is being destroyed, not simply changing. His peer-reviewed work, published in the Transatlantic Law Journal, outlines why this is happening and examines if it can be saved.

Margaret Kelley, professor of American studies at the University of Kansas, explores the growing phenomenon and misconceptions regarding women gun owners in middle America in a new book, “A Gun of Her Own: The Everyday Lives of Women Who Shoot.”

Tadeo Weiner Davis, assistant professor of social welfare at the University of Kansas, earned a grant to preserve materials of Stand Up KC, a movement dedicated to earning better pay for fast food and casual restaurant workers, and record oral histories of those involved.

Two media scholars at the University of Kansas have published a study analyzing media coverage of the 2023 kidnapping of soccer star Luis "Lucho" Diaz's father.

In a new book chapter, Colin McRoberts, associate teaching professor of business at the University of Kansas, traces the story of Superman’s battle with the Ku Klux Klan in a 1946 radio serial and suggests it may provide strategies for thwarting the damage done by conspiracy theories.

Research from the University of Kansas has found that the raid on the Marion County Record newspaper in rural Kansas created “shared press distress” among fellow small town journalists. Shortly after the raid, journalists reported feeling distress and asked questions about if such raids would continue to be allowed and what it would mean for their journalistic practices.

A University of Kansas study found that following Kansas City's policy implementation of fare-free bus service, new riders were attracted to the service and overall usage increased, among other changes. Traditionally marginalized communities were especially affected by the change, showing that such a policy has equity benefits, the study author said.

In a new study, Sofia Vera, assistant professor of political science at the University of Kansas, examines how the issue of immigration affects voters, finding that a strong partisan polarization occurs close to an election, but once it is over, both sides begin to converge in the middle.