Social distancing and stay-at-home measures provided scientists with a natural experiment to study social phenomena that hinge precisely on human mobility and contact — including criminal activity. A study by Center for the U.S. and Mexico experts and co-authors explores the relationship between COVID-19 and criminal activity in Mexico.

Abstract

This article assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network…

In a study for the British Journal of Political Science, the authors found that Muslim religious leaders weaken their perceived religious authority when they engage with politics.

"The COVID-19 effect is likely to reduce the demand for public transport in favor of lower density alternatives," write the authors. Their study considers links between commuters' demographic factors and incidence of disease transmission, as well as the environmental implications of decreased ridership on public transport.

This study finds that Maryland's all-payer model for healthcare comparatively lowered the risk of complications from surgery, as well as reducing increases in associated costs.

The authors identify mental health stressors and strategies for coping with distress among underserved Latino communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Environmental disasters impact disadvantaged communities disproportionately both through the epidemiological challenge of exposure, but also by undermining the progress of public health efforts.

Using religious political parties in Iran and Turkey as case studies, the authors argue that the parties are not passively constrained by religious doctrine. Rather, they actively and continually construct religious narratives that respond to their immediate threat perceptions and political environment. Read more at Political Science Quarterly.

This article considers the implications of expanding hydroelectricity for war production and strategy using Canada, the United States and Germany during World War II as an example. The article also examines how war-time decisions structured the longer-term evolution of large technological systems: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1740022819000366

Tweets by legislative candidates from four major political parties in Turkey are examined to compare their policy positions with those of party supporters. Journal of Representative Democracy: http://bit.ly/2UrQURQ