[{"id":2465,"date":"2022-04-08T11:37:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T15:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/politicalsci\/?p=2465"},"modified":"2022-04-08T12:17:36","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T16:17:36","slug":"investigating-violence-in-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/2022\/04\/08\/investigating-violence-in-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigating Violence in Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"State
State Policeman Directing Traffic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shannan Mattiace, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Allegheny College together with fellow researcher Sandra Ley, Associate Professor at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City have recently published an article in the Journal of Politics in Latin America entitled \u201cYucat\u00e1n as an Exception to Rising Criminal Violence in M\u00e9xico\u201d<\/a> . Their research was picked up by the online magazine, Political Violence at a Glance<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The news is full of reports concerning crime and violence in Mexico fueled by the drug cartels.\u00a0 This level of violence, however, is not widespread throughout the country. In fact the Yucat\u00e1n state is widely advertised as a safe place to live and travel.\u00a0 The researchers asked this important question: \u00a0What explains the historically low homicide rate in Yucat\u00e1n state even as neighboring states have exhibited much more visible violence?<\/p>\n

How do Political Scientists develop research questions and design the approach to uncover answers?\u00a0 In this brief interview, Professor Mattiace shares her reflections on the Yucat\u00e1n project:<\/p>\n

What inspired you and Professor Ley to take on this research?<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor Ley is both my friend and colleague; we\u2019ve worked as research partners for several years.\u00a0 Sandra is an expert on criminal violence in Mexico, and I have studied a variety of subjects in the Yucat\u00e1n.\u00a0 When we looked at the data, we were curious about Yucat\u00e1n\u2019s low homicide rate when compared with the rest of the country, and decided to uncover the story behind the data.<\/p>\n

What surprised you the most as you looked in depth to discover the “why” beyond the statistics?<\/em><\/p>\n

What initially surprised us is that there are cartels in the Yucat\u00e1n, but no visible violence. Why is this? Has one cartel established a monopoly through a pact with the police, or is government security managed so effectively that violence is low?\u00a0 The other thing that surprised us is how much help we received from journalists over the course of this research. (Mexico is the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist.)\u00a0 This research took place during COVID so most interviews took place over Zoom; still, they took the time to speak with us and were of tremendous help.<\/p>\n

Are you planning any future projects?<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, as the conclusion of the paper reveals, though the homicide rate is unusually low, there is still a high level of domestic violence and police torture \u2013We will continue to explore these questions in our upcoming research.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact Professor Shannan Mattiace at smattiac@allegheny.edu.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shannan Mattiace, Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Allegheny College together with fellow researcher Sandra Ley, Associate Professor at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE) in Mexico City have recently published an article in the Journal of Politics in Latin America entitled \u201cYucat\u00e1n as an Exception to Rising Criminal Violence […]<\/p>\n

Continue Reading “Investigating Violence in Mexico”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":430,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2465\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":2312,"date":"2020-05-22T18:21:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-22T22:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/politicalsci\/2020\/05\/22\/national-radio-program-to-spotlight-faculty-research-at-allegheny-college\/"},"modified":"2020-05-22T18:21:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T22:21:00","slug":"national-radio-program-to-spotlight-faculty-research-at-allegheny-college","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.allegheny.edu\/political-science\/2020\/05\/22\/national-radio-program-to-spotlight-faculty-research-at-allegheny-college\/","title":{"rendered":"National Radio Program to Spotlight Faculty Research at Allegheny College"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>Six Allegheny College professors will be featured on \u201cThe Academic Minute,\u201d a national radio broadcast and podcast that highlights research from colleges and universities throughout the world, beginning on Monday, May 25.<\/p>\n

Starting with Monday\u2019s broadcast, five of the professors will \u201ctake over\u201d \u201cThe Academic Minute\u201d program for the week. Each day, one Allegheny faculty member will discuss their research and important topics in their fields of study, focusing on what\u2019s new and exciting in academia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Academic Minute\u201d is broadcast by WAMC\/Northeast Public Radio on 90.3-FM (1400-AM) in Albany, New York, airing weekdays at 7:30 a.m. and 3:56 p.m. The show, which is carried on 70 stations around the United States and Canada, is hosted by Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. The program is also streamed via the web at academicminute.org<\/a>. In addition, \u201cThe Academic Minute\u201d research profiles of the professors will be featured in the academic trade publication Inside Higher Ed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am thrilled that through the Allegheny College takeover of \u2018The Academic Minute,\u2019 NPR listeners will have the chance to be inspired by some of Allegheny\u2019s impressive scholar-teachers, even for a brief moment,\u201d said Allegheny President Hilary L. Link. \u201cAs president, I hear from alumni again and again that it is the opportunity to work alongside, to be guided and mentored by, and to learn from the Allegheny faculty that continues to resonate in life-changing ways with our graduates even decades after they leave campus.\u201d<\/p>\n

The five Allegheny professors whose research will be featured the week of May 25\u201329 include:<\/p>\n