Previous researchers found that gerrymandering has caused significant partisan bias among political actors, which is disproportionate to the voting patterns of American citizens among the masses (McCarty, 2009). However, current research fails to address how gerrymandering directly impacts polarization. My research shows the direct correlation through instances such as an increased incumbency rate and the increased segregation of communities. After conducting a quantitative case study between the states of Texas and New York, I found that there is a relationship between an increase in gerrymandering and an increase of political and racial polarization. The relationship was stronger than expected, showing that the more gerrymandered a state is, the more incumbents are re-elected, political elites vote on extreme party lines and a disproportionate winning party compared to average American voters. The practice of gerrymandering continues to exacerbate the polarization of American politics, specifically for less represented communities. Polarization among mass political actors is growing because of polarization among political elites, who make decisions about gerrymandering. Understanding the relevance of gerrymandering for mass polarization can raise awareness and lead to the practice of gerrymandering being abolished.

In comparison to other countries, the United States has had the most mass shootings. Mass shootings in public settings have received a lot of media coverage, making it look like the new normal. Many studies focus on gun control (Newman and Hartman 2017). Violent video games and aggressive behavior is less of a research focus. Using information about each individual shooter from the American Psychological Association (APA) and a range of popular sources describing the killers, I find that those that were diagnosed with mental illness had also played violent video games and some of them reenacted the scenes. The way that the shootings unfolded were consistent with the types of video games the killers played. Those shooters who were not mentally ill, did not have the same focus on reenacting video games and their tactics. This research suggests that access to video games alone is not a cause of violent shootings, but together with mental illness violent video games appear to be strongly related to mass shootings. Public debate should consider violent video games in the context of mass shootings and mental illness, similarly as is gun control.

Populism is not a defined ideology, but instead a strategy for political outsiders to challenge the status quo. Previous literature asserts that populist candidates depend on rhetoric over action (Bonikowski 2016). This research addresses the gap between how a populist candidate’s performance and favorability with citizens is affected by using social media as one of the primary outlets for campaigning. Embracing social media can mobilize citizens against the established political order. I measured Trump’s favorability ratings, tracked the highest engagement of his tweets and rallies, and compared Trump’s Twitter followers to Hillary Clinton. Trump’s Twitter usage did not provide a distinct advantage over using rallies, but it did allow him to spread his message to more people and may explain the recent rise of populist leaders in countries across the world.
 

The globalization of trade is a phenomenon that should, on the surface, impact communities in predictable ways. My research will investigate the pattern of “winners” and “losers” from globalization in China with two aims. First, I will test which model of trade policy-making fits best in China. Given that unskilled labor, China’s most abundant factor, tends to be relatively mobile, there is reason to expect the Heckscher-Ohlin theory and Stopler-Samuelson theorem (HOS model) will be most appropriate. Second, to the extent that observed rates of return do not fit either model, we can assume that government intervention has offset the effects of globalization, with the government or state-owned enterprises perhaps subsidizing scarce factors of production or comparatively disadvantaged sectors. Examining the pattern of protection and subsidies in China will shed important light on the politics of globalization in a rapidly developing and authoritarian economy. I will delve into the works of various scholars including Xiaojun Li and Ka Zeng’s work to potentially find other causal connections.