Climate Change, Defense, Democracy, Populism, & Domestic Politics, Europe, Gender Equality, International Law, Migration, Public Health, Technology Read Our Graduate Associate Policy Papers

Perry World House has published policy papers by our 2018-19 cohort of Graduate Associates. Each paper builds on research by academics from Penn and beyond, to provide new insights for policymakers. They represent a wide range of disciplines, from public health to international law, and aim to answer key questions in global affairs.

Click here to read all the policy papers. 

How Does Mobile Technology Help Transnational Urban Migrants?

Kecheng Fang looked at the increasingly important role played by technology in helping transnational urban migrants to make sense of their surroundings. This paper is based on Working through paradoxes: Transnational migrants' urban learning tactics using locative technology by Heewon Kim, Assistant Professor at Arizona State University, and Jessa Lingel, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. 

How to Improve State Behavior Regarding Womens' Rights?

Meghan Garrity examined how self-reporting - where states must provide information needed to determining whether they are meeting their commitments in a treaty - has a significant positive effect on improved women's human rights outcomes. This policy paper is based on Do Self-Reporting Regimes Matter? Evidence from the Convention Against Torture by Cosette Creamer, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, and Beth Simmons, Andrea Mitchell University Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Trigger Termination Clauses: The Future for Ending UN Security Council Resolutions?

Tina Lapsia asked whether the use of a 'trigger termination' clause could incentivize states to pass more, and abide by, UN security council resolutions. This policy paper is based on The Security Resolution on the Iran Deal: A Way around the 'Reverse Veto' by Jean Galbraith, Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania. 

How Might Policy Makers Help to Prevent Suicide?

With the causes and best ways to prevent suicide still poorly understood, Christopher Magoon identified barriers to conducting clinical research on suicide. This policy paper is based on Implications of Zero Suicide for Suicide Prevention Research by Dominic Sisti, Assistant Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and Steven Joffe, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Do Threats of Military Force Change How Voters See U.S. National Reputation?

Casey Mahoney looked at how threats of U.S. military intervention abroad impact on how voters view their country's reputation. This policy paper is based on A Dispositional Theory of Reputation Costs by Ryan Brutger, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and Joshua Kertzer, Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. 

How Does Gender Affect Strategy and Payoffs in Global Negotiation?

Shira Pindyck looked at how gendered understandings of characteristics, capabilities, and communication patterns can influence the strategies employed in negotiations. This policy paper is based on The Myth of the Male Negotiator: Gender's Effect on Negotiation Strategies and Outcomes by Corinne Low, Assistant Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and Jennie Huang, a Doctoral Student in Applied Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. 

How Can a U.S. President Combat Climate Change Internationally? 

Jenny Reich investigated how a U.S. President, sympathetic to climate concerns, could use existing legal authorities to tackle it as an international crisis. This policy paper is based on The Commander in Chief's Authority to Combat Climate Change by Mark Nevitt, Sharswood Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. 

How Can Supranational and National Judicial Institutions Be Used to Defend Liberal Democracy Against Authoritarianism? 

Christoph Sielmann explored the role judicial institutions can play in the fight against rising authoritarianism in the European Union. This policy paper is based on Can Courts Rescue National Democracy? Judicial Safeguards Against Democratic Backsliding in the EU by Michael Blauberger, Professor of Politics of the European Union at the University of Salzburg, and R. Daniel Kelemen, Professor of Political Science at Rutgers University.