Research Library

Political science fellow Mark Jones blogs on the results of the recent gubernatorial election.

The 10 leading presidential candidates will earn a spot on the main stage at the Aug. 6 GOP debate on Fox News. Rick Perry may not make the cut.

Nonresident fellow Gary Hale, former chief of intelligence in the Houston Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, pulls no punches in a blog on the escape of Mexican drug lord Chapo Guzman.

Recent gubernatorial elections in five of seven Argentine provinces with significant energy reserves took place amid the current presidential campaign to replace the term-limited Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Fellow Mark Jones analyzes the likely relationship between the five provincial governors — who, like other Argentine governors, have a profound impact on the energy industry — and a new president.

In physics, extensive collaborations, access to colleagues’ data and rigorous peer review make it extremely difficult for individual researchers to bend the rules. Furthermore, physics does not harbor the types of ethical minefields characteristic of the biosciences. No thorny questions arise pertaining to human or animal life, nor do physicists commonly grapple with the ethical haze of intellectual property when patents and money are at stake. Things seem to be black and white in physics. But are they?

If past trends hold for Annise Parker’s successor, this fall Houstonians may well be in actuality electing the person who will guide the city until January 2022.

Using data from University of Texas/Texas Tribune polls of registered Texas voters, political science fellow Mark Jones ranked 20 counties in the Lone Star State from most liberal to most conservative. Travis County, home to Austin, is by far the state's most liberal county; Brazoria County is the most ideologically conservative.

Texas state Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) laments that “5.5% of voters have been given 100% authority to determine what our Republican Party looks like and stands for.” The 5.5 percent he refers to is the percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in the May 27 Republican primary. Who participates in the Republican primary and comprises the 5.5 percent with whom Villalba is at odds on many issues?

Following the legalization of retail marijuana sales in Colorado and Washington, and medical marijuana in 22 states with more to follow, marijuana legalization appears inevitable — even in “law and order” states like Texas. Political science fellow Mark P. Jones discusses why Texas is unlikely to legalize the sale and consumption of marijuana in the near future.