The Global Politics Lab (GPL) at Brigham Young University was founded in 2008 to increase understanding of the relationship between politics and economics, with a special focus on global development. It has since expanded its scope to incorporate issues relating to political development, such as the development of parties and elections, understanding ethnic conflict, the role of political values, and politics and gender. We approach our work using a variety of methodologies, including qualitative, quantitative, and survey research, but we have a particular expertise in experimental work and especially randomized field experiments. Our hope is to inform and influence policy and advance understanding of global problems and solutions.

GPL Student Highlights

2018 ORCA Grant Recipients

Amerins Tolman: "Post-Genocide Rwanda: The Correlation Between Citizens' Perception of Peace-building Efforts and its Subsequent Success."

2018 MPSA - Midwest Political Science Association

Poster presentations by Matthew Easton, Miranda Hatch, James Hodgson, Nicholas Moffitt, George Gonzalez, Connor Kreutz, Haley Roberts, Benjamin White, and Aubriana Wolferts.

2018 Claremont-UC Undergraduate Conference on the European Union

Paper presentation by Louise Paulsen entitled "Are Danes Just Xenophobes? Examining the Establishment of Anti-Immigrant Parties in Denmark and Sweden."

2018 Convention - International Affairs Association

Presentation of co-authored paper by Eliza Riley entitled "Women's Status in Truth Commission Governance: A Quantitative Analysis of National and International Determinants of Inclusion."

2018 Fulton Conference

"Can Conservatives Find Love?" by Matt Easton

"Distribution of Immigration Through Ellis Island (1892-1924): The Effect of World War I on Immigration to the U.S." by George Gonzalez

"Gaming the Government: How to get government officials to engage with evidence based reports" by James Hodgson

"Does Aids Aid Really Aid?" by Eliza Riley

"Rethinking Transitional Justice: A Comparative Analysis of Women, Grassroots Involvement, and Truth Commissions" by Eliza Riley

Graduate Schools

David Bates has accepted an offer to get his Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin - Madison beginning this fall.

Post-graduation Jobs

Eliza Riley has accepted a job as a senior research support associate to four top political science professors at MIT beginning this summer.

Announcements Events:

Listen to Dr. Quinn Mecham in his monthly appearance in BYU Radio's Top of Mind With Julie Rose. He most recently contributed with his predictions for world affairs in 2018 on Jan 8, 2018. Listen here.

General news:

The applications for the 2018-2019 PEDL fellowships are now closed. Thank you to all who applied! Decisions will be communicated in April 2018.

PEDL has been renovated! Having been housed in the Kennedy Center for the last year, this space is now newly updated with cubicles, a sitting area, art, and a gorgeous new conference room.

Our research:

Recent work by PEDL faculty include:

Dr. Quinn Mecham's book from 2017 on the Institutional Origins of Islamist Political Mobilization.

Dr. Kirk Hawkin's extensive work on populism includes a recent article on "The Ideational Approach to Populism."

Dr. Darren Hawkin's research on public support for U.S. foreign aid can be seen in his 2017 article "Down the Rathole? Public Support for US Foreign Aid."