Research Library

Social media is becoming more and more a part of the daily political process. From a political science perspective, the ability to capture the ideology of elites and citizens using a common platform greatly helps in answering a very important question: which party’s ideological position is closest to that of its supporters, on a left-right ideology scale? Research scholar Abdullah Aydogan analyzes the tweets of four major Turkish political parties to answer this question in a post for the Baker Institute Blog.

Nonresident fellow Gary J. Hale explains why the U.S. should celebrate Mexico’s constitutional centennial as a marker of the country’s commitment to the principles of democracy and freedom.

The U.S. prosecution of drug kingpin El Chapo Guzman could open a Pandora’s box that exposes corrupt officials in both countries, writes fellow Gary Hale in the Baker Institute Blog.

This blog post examines a Mexican senator's push to amend Mexico's Constitution to emulate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and allow Mexico's citizens to carry handguns for personal protection.

President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia promised that if his administration negotiated peace with the guerrilla group FARC, he would bring the agreement to the people for ratification. But his request for a plebiscite (a type of referendum) quickly turned into a clash between Santos and former President Alvaro Uribe, whose Centro Democrático party is leading a campaign against the agreement. Read more at the Houston Chronicle Blog: http://bit.ly/2cTT8zB

Nonresident scholar Nathan P. Jones analyzes Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman’s transfer to a Mexican prison near the Texas border and how it may impact his possible extradition and prosecution in the U.S.

This blog post examines how Donald Trump's status as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee could impact Texas Republicans running for offices in the November general elections.

This blog post examines four factors of globalization that make Texas a “ground zero” for new infectious tropical diseases and outlines steps the state must take to better mitigate global health threats.

Latin America Initiative director Erika de la Garza blogs on the murder of Honduras activist Berta Cáceres, who was in Houston last November to receive an award for her work on behalf of Honduras’ indigenous communities.