The CRSS lab currently has three main projects:

Project 1: The Mass Protest Project (open to new applicants)

Project Description: Protests and demonstrations have become the dominant form for public signals of discontent. The literature on nonviolent civil resistance has noted the successfulness of protestors and demonstrations in removing dictators and inspiring policy shifts. However, significant democratic backsliding is prevalent during the aftermath of a nonviolent movement. This project addresses the lack of quantitative evidence comparing the immediate, intermediate and long-term effects of social movements. During their tenure, students will research and gather information on the aftermath of protest movements. Students will be directly involved in the compiling of an event history dataset on protest concessions, outcomes, and consequences.

Project 2: Polarization and Political Violence in the US (closed to new applicants)

Affiliated Faculty: Dr. Erin Czikanek (Cornell University)no

Project Description: The United States is polarizing faster than any other country and the effects are severe and widespread. Of concern is the linkage between polarization and domestic political violence. This project analyzes and measures 1) how polarization influences an individual’s attitudes towards political violence, 2) the levels of public complacency towards political violence. Students will get hands-on experience in the deployment process of surveys and experiments.

Project 3: Forced Sterilization and Public Backlash (open to new applicants)

Affiliated Faculty: Dr. Liana Woskie (Tufts University)

Project Description: Many countries seek to control domestic fertility rates, and fertility rate goals are often externally imposed as a condition of aid. Many states employ forced sterilization as a tool to control fertility rates, disproportionately targeting certain domestic populations. Forced sterilization programs can exist for decades before mass public backlash emerges. This project examines the role of mass public backlash in shaping governmental usage of national coercive sterilization programs.

Project 4: Contemporary Protest Mobilization and Repertoires In Asia (open to new applicants)

Affiliated Faculty: Dr. Charmaine Willis (Old Dominion)

Project Description: Protest movements across the world vary across several major dimensions, including their ability to draw participants, their ability to meet their goals, and the contentious repertoires (a sort of protest playbook) from which they draw their strategies. This project examines several questions related to these dimensions, focusing on characteristics of protest participants, the size of the protests, and the strategies used by protest leaders, such as the form of protest and the messaging deployed. The project focuses on protest movements in East, Southeast, and South Asia, particularly in democratic or hybrid regimes, initially beginning with contemporary South Korean protests.