Research Library

By Rob Kampia

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in…

Texas voters took to the polls Tuesday to choose candidates for the November elections. Mark Jones, fellow in political science, compiled a list of seven takeaways from the primary runoffs.

José Woldenberg, who served as the first president of Mexico's Federal Electoral Institute, traced the country's transition to democracy at an April 2014 lecture hosted by the Baker Institute Mexico Center. The center's Lisa Guaqueta and Kristin Foringer explain why Mexico's experience is distinct from similar processes elsewhere in the world.

Cancer drug shortages are almost uniquely associated with generic drugs (small profit margins) and rarely with patented drugs (large profit margins). They are common in the U.S., but uncommon in Europe and elsewhere, where generic drug prices are on average higher than in the U.S. This suggests the main cause of drug shortages is economic.

Erika de la Garza, program director of the Latin America Initiative, discusses the political fragmentation and need for coalition building in Costa Rica, where the recent presidential election resulted in a runoff.

Baker Institute health policy experts Hagop M. Kantarjian and Vivian Ho explain why Texas, which holds the notorious record of the highest rate of uninsured citizens in the U.S., should follow many Republican-led states that are now reconsidering the Medicaid expansion program under Obamacare.

While much media attention recently has focused on the geopolitical fault lines that connect Syria’s violence to wider region-wide trends, the plight of individual women, men, and children displaced within Syria or living in camps beyond its borders shows no sign of ending. As Secretary of State John Kerry has stated, the humanitarian situation in Syria is "an outrage" but the violence only looks set to worsen as opposition groups turn on each other and radical trans-national elements feed off the resulting vacuum of authority and control. This is the task as the international community prepares to reconvene in Switzerland on January 22, writes Baker Institute fellow Kristian Coates Ulrichsen in the Baker Institute Blog.

On Jan. 11 the Texas House of Representatives will elect a new Texas House speaker. Political science fellow Mark Jones compares prospective candidates along an ideological liberal-conservative spectrum.

This blog post examines how the Republican wave that swept Texas in November has altered the composition of the Democratic electoral base.

In 2003 and 2009, the Texas House of Representatives had a Republican majority and a Republican speaker. In this blog post, political science fellow Mark P. Jones presents critical distinctions between the 2003 and 2009 House leadership.