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.

James A. Baker, III, and George P. Shultz — both former secretaries of state and Treasury secretaries — offer "A Conservative Answer to Climate Change" in a commentary for The Wall Street Journal.

During the 85th Legislative Session, Texas lawmakers have the opportunity to enact reforms to the current process by which the state selects its judges—in partisan elections in combination with a straight-ticket voting option. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones analyzes four reform options and their respective advantages and disadvantages.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Texas voter ID law, ruling that it violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The decision cites a 2015 study by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the University of Houston Hobby Center for Public Policy.

This four-part series on the Baker Institute Blog analyzes the role of foreign policy in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Nonresident scholar Isidro Morales examines the Mexican government's response to Donald Trump and other critics of Mexico in the U.S. and abroad.

This working paper analyzes the roots of Iran’s “dissonant” political system and revolutionary ideology, the fractious contest over defining and applying this ideology, and the implications of these struggles for Iranian foreign and security policy.