The institute will celebrate American democracy and promote citizen engagement.

In October of 2020, Florida State University announced the launch of its new Institute of Politics (IOP@FSU), a non-partisan, world-class home for civic engagement and research, which will showcase the role of politics in improving the lives of Americans.

Housed within the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, the IOP@FSU will feature applied political research by a cadre of world-class scholars, curricular initiatives aimed at celebrating American democracy while encouraging civic engagement and events that celebrate the power of public service.

The institute also will be a hub of learning, research and engagement at the state, regional and national level. The IOP@FSU took flight after legislation was passed by the Florida Legislature, which generously provided $1 million in initial funding.

The IOP@FSU, affiliated with the university’s nationally renowned Department of Political Science, will act as a trusted convener of political ideas, insight and research. The institute will offer a fresh lens through which people can view political information in an objective way. Forums, symposia and workshops will bring together the top minds in politics to engage with students, faculty, elected representatives, political practitioners and citizens in the private sector.

Despite being such a new addition to Florida State University, the New Institute of Politics has already garnered much attention, as well as become a new avenue for many new and exciting events:

On November 4th, Dean Tim Chapin, from the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, hosted a panel of esteemed faculty to explore American Democracy in action and our tradition of representative governance. The featured panelists will hosted a strictly nonpartisan discussion that provides information on next stages and explains emerging political processes. You can learn more about this discussion here.

On November 10th, the IOP held a timely event hosting G. Elliott Morris of The Economist who broke down the performance of election forecasting for the 2020 election. View this discussion with Dr. Brad Gomez, chair of the FSU Political Science Department on our YouTube channel.

On November 17, the IOP hosted a live Zoom event for a post-election discussion with IOP Director Dr. Hans Hassell on “Campaigns in a New Environment: A Retrospective into Political Campaigns in 2020”. You can watch the playback of this event here.

On November 18th, the IOP hosted Dr. John Sides of Vanderbilt University and the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage Blog and Steve Schale, who was the executive director of Unite the Country during the 2020 election cycle, for a live Zoom event. During this event, these individuals provided their expert insight on the 2020 election results and their impact on politics for 2021 and beyond.

Click here to learn about and RSVP to upcoming events hosted by Florida State University’s new Institute of Politics.

The feature image is from Wikipedia.