Faculty-Student Research Highlights: Political Science & International Studies

Minorities and Foreign Policy

Professor of Political Science and International Studies Lenore Martin, Cameron Howard ’24, Makayla Kalman ’24, Lindsey Snider ’25 and Joshua Luedke ’26

During summer 2023, Professor of Political Science and International Studies Lenore Martin is working with economics major Cameron Howard ’24, economics and international studies double major Makayla Kalman ’24, political science and economics double major Lindsey Snider ’25 and Joshua Luedke ’26 on the impact minorities have on the making of foreign policy.

In this study, the research team is focusing on such questions as: What types of issues ethnic minorities try to influence? Is it discrimination in other states that motivates people to push for international action? Is it extreme poverty or famine? Is it conflict and peacemaking? Is it for foreign aid or intervention?

The group is also analyzing how minorities mobilize and form interest groups and how they influence policymakers. In democracies this would mean being able to deliver votes, as well as influence the media and institutions. In authoritarian states it is more difficult and often depends on whether they have a role within government and whether they have resources with which to work and whether they have “kin” abroad to help.

The group will study four groups in three countries, specifically focusing on the Kurds in Turkey, the Uyghurs in China, the Latinx community in the U.S. and the Iranian community in the U.S. The project entails in depth theoretical and empirical research, and has a comparative component, as they are using similar questions in four different case studies.

Students gain valuable experience presenting at leading organizations as a result of student-faculty research collaborations. The students who worked with Dr. Martin during the summer of 2022 presented papers at the Northeastern Political Science Association (NPSA) in the fall, with one of the student’s going on to presenting at the Pi Sigma Alpha (the Political Science Honor Society) conference in Washington D.C. during the spring 2023 semester. The summer 2023 research group will also be applying to present their research on Minorities and Foreign Policy at NPSA’s annual meeting in November 2023.