When people think of public servants, they traditionally think about police officers, teachers, and counselors. Each public servant represents a unique and valued member of society. Yet, firefighters do not always come to mind as public servants even though they are one of the most essential professionals in American society. 2020 data indicates that a…
Tag: COVID-19
Research Spotlight: Cooperation and Conflict in Florida’s Response to COVID-19
We address state-local relationships during COVID-19 in Florida by asking two research questions: Were state-local relations characterized by cooperation or conflict during COVID-19? Was this relationship a one-off, or does it foreshadow future state-local relations? We deploy a three-part survey of Florida city managers distributed by the Florida League of Cities. The first part asks…
Christmas 2021: Will We Look Beyond Politics This Holiday Season?
Social scientists continue to unveil the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, including temporary or permanent unemployment, social isolation, and increased healthcare disparities. One of the most interesting effects of COVID-19, however, is increased political polarization. Brown University economist Jesse Shapiro finds that the American mass public is polarizing faster than citizens in any other democracy….
Research Spotlight: Governors in Control: Executive Orders, State-Local Preemption, and the COVID-19 Pandemic
The nation’s governors took strong and decisive action in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, often affecting their localities. In our paper, we ask two questions. First, did governors’ centralize their authority or rely on their localities to deal with the emergency response during COVID-19? Second, what factors affect those decisions? To answer our questions, we…
Research Spotlight: Distrust in Social Institutions During COVID-19
The United States is seeing a growing distrust in social institutions of knowledge like science and media. These groups which attempt to systematically validate or invalidate information are losing influence in favor of alternative sources of information like blogs, YouTube videos and conspiracy theorists. This poses an obvious threat to public health in the context…
Research Spotlight: Examining the Impact of Communicative Processes on Civic Engagement Among College Students During a Crisis
The objective of this ongoing study is to collect preliminary data on how message content and social norms impact college students’ responses to preventive behavior calls to actions (i.e., mask-wearing as an act of civic engagement) in regards to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and how these responses are exacerbated when such messages interact with individual…
DeSantis undermining individual freedom, conservative principles | Opinion
This article originally appeared in Tallahassee Democrat. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed policymakers in a tricky position, Gov. DeSantis included. He and others are forced to find a balance between protecting public health and safeguarding individual freedom. One of Gov. DeSantis’ signature initiatives is a ban on agencies and businesses that might want to impose…
IOP@FSU Field-Advancing Research: Who Do You Trust? Public Opinion on Handling the Pandemic
On September 8, the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP) hosted the first of a series of webinars featuring research on civic engagement, funded by the Institute of Politics. This webinar features a study by Associate Professor of Political Science Amanda Driscoll and political science Ph.D. student Taylor Chewning, using a nationally representative…
Research Spotlight: The Much Less United States? Federalism in an Era of COVID-19
The federal response to the crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic stands as a dramatic about-face to the century-long trend towards federal government empowerment. The federal government’s initial reaction to the looming pandemic crisis was disjointed and at times contradictory, a response that stood in stark contrast to the strong and highly coordinated federal…
IOP@FSU Field-Advancing Research: Americans United in Their Support for Local Government Management of the Pandemic
The Institute of Politics at Florida State University (IOP@FSU) is a world-class, nonpartisan, and nationally renowned institute that promotes engagement in politics by students and citizens. Housed within the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy, the IOP@FSU supports applied political research by a cadre of world-class scholars and mobilizes the talents of our alumni, students, faculty,…
Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions 