James McGuire

In a recent article in the journal Regional and Federal Studies James McGuire, Professor of Government, found that Trump's 2020 vote share was a strong and robust predictor of a lower COVID-19 vaccination rate across US states, US counties, and Connecticut towns alike, adjusting for wide range other factors thought to affect the vaccination rate. At each of the three subnational levels, McGuire showed, the Trump 2020 vote share was also correlated more closely than the Trump 2016 vote share or the Romney 2012 vote share with the COVID-19 vaccination rate. McGuire estimated the statistical impact of the Trump 2020…

Several faculty have recently authored or co-authored books, book chapters, and articles that appear in prestigious academic journals. BOOKS AND BOOK CHAPTERS Eric Charry, professor of music, is the author of A New and Concise History of Rock and R&B through the Early 1990s (Wesleyan University Press, 2020). Robert "Bo" Conn, professor of Spanish, is the author of Bolívar’s Afterlife in the Americas: Biography, Ideology, and the Public Sphere (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). Anthony Ryan Hatch, associate professor of science in society, is the author of three book chapters: “The Artificial Pancreas in Cyborg Bodies,” published in The Oxford Handbook of…

Professor of Government James McGuire is a political scientist with expertise in the association between democracy and public health. You study the relationship between democracy and population health. Does the literature find that democracy is good for population health? As a political scientist I've long been interested in democracy, and especially in its possible impact on other aspects of well-being. Many other political scientists have studied democracy's impact on economic growth and income inequality. My interest has been in democracy's impact on the risk of early death, and particularly on child mortality in developing countries. For Amartya Sen and Martha…

Professor of Government James McGuire is the author of a book chapter titled "Democracy, Agency and the Classification of Political Regimes," published in Reflections on Uneven Democracies: The Legacy of Guillermo O'Donnell by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014. Guillermo O'Donnell (1936-2011) was widely recognized as the world's leading scholar of Latin American politics. During his doctoral studies, McGuire worked closely with O'Donnell in both Argentina and the United States, translating from Spanish to English O'Donnell's Bureaucratic Authoritarianism: Argentina, 1966-1973, in Comparative Perspective (University of California Press, 1988). McGuire's chapter in this new volume commemorating O'Donnell's life and work argues that schemes for classifying…

Logan Dancey, assistant professor of government, is the co-author of "Heuristics Behaving Badly: Party Cues and Voter Knowledge," published in American Journal of Political Science 57 No. 2, 312-325, April 2013. Erika Franklin Fowler, assistant professor of government, is the co-author of "Political and News Media Factors Shaping Public Awareness of the HPV Vaccine," published in Women's Health Issues 23 No. 3, e143-e151, 2013. Giulio Gallarotti, professor of government, professor of environmental studies, tutor in the College of Social Studies, is the author of "The Enduring Importance of Hobbes in the Study of IR," published in e-International Relations, Jan. 10, 2013. Elvin Lim, associate professor of…

James McGuire, professor and chair of government, professor of Latin American studies, tutor in the College of Social Studies, recently had a book chapter and an article published. The chapter, titled, "Social Policies in Latin America: Causes, Characteristics, and Consequences," appeared in Routledge Handbook of Latin American Politics, edited by Peter Kingstone and Deborah J. Yashar and published March 8 by Routledge. The chapter classifies the main social policies enacted in Latin America from 1920 through 2010, explores the effects of those policies on the well-being of the poor, and outlines some of the forces and circumstances that led to…

James McGuire, chair and professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, spoke on "Class Structure, Distributive Conflict and Democracy: Brazil and Argentina in Comparative Perspective," during a conference on Guillermo O’Donnell and the Study of Democracy on March 26. The conference took place in in O’Donnell’s hometown of Buenos Aires. The conference was held in celebration of immense legacy of the eminent political scientist Guillermo O’Donnell (1936–2011), one of the pioneers of democratization studies. More information is online here.

James McGuire's recent book Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 2010) was named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2010 and won the 2011 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research. McGuire is professor and chair in the Department of Government and a member of the Latin American Studies Program at Wesleyan. The Stein Rokkan Prize is awarded annually by the International Social Science Council (ISSC), the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), and the University of Bergen (Norway), in memory of Professor Stein Rokkan, who was an eminent social scientist at the…

James McGuire, professor of government, is the author of "Mortality Decline in Chile, 1960-1995," published in Living Standards in Latin American History: Height, Welfare, and Development, 1750-2000, Cambridge, Mass: David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, 2010; and "Political Factors and Health Outcomes: Insight from Argentina's Provinces," published in the United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report 2010, September 2010.

James McGuire, professor of government, delivered four invited lectures in 2010. These include: "Politics, Policy, and Mortality Decline in Chile: The Pinochet Paradox" on April 17 at Carleton College, Foro Latinoamericano; "Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America" on Nov. 3 at Brown University, Center for Latin American Studies; "Social Policies in Latin America: Characteristics and Consequences" on Nov. 11 at the University of California, (more…)

James McGuire, professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, is the author of Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America published by Cambridge University Press, 2010. Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America finds that the public provision of basic health care and other inexpensive social services has reduced mortality rapidly even in tough economic circumstances, and that political democracy has contributed to the provision and utilization of such social services, in a wider range of ways than is sometimes recognized. These conclusions are based on case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa…

James McGuire, professor of government, professor of Latin American studies, is the author of the book, Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America, published by Cambridge University Press, 2010. Why do some societies fare well, and others poorly, at reducing the risk of early death? Wealth, Health, and Democracy in East Asia and Latin America examines this question and finds that the public provision of basic health care and other inexpensive social services has reduced mortality rapidly even in tough economic circumstances, and that political democracy has contributed to the provision and utilization of such social services,…

New Research Shows 2020 Vote for Trump a Strong Predictor of Lower Vaccination Rates

Faculty, Alumni, Students Publish Books, Journal Articles

McGuire Studies the Relationship Between Democracy and Public Health

McGuire Authors Chapter on Democracy, Political Regimes

Government’s Dancey, Fowler, Gallarotti, Lim, McGuire, Rutland, Schwartz, Wiliarty Published in 2013

McGuire’s Book Chapter, Article Published in Latin American, Politics Publications

McGuire Speaks at Conference Honoring Political Scientist Guillermo O’Donnell

McGuire Book Wins International Prize

McGuire Published in Latin American Living Standards, Human Development Report

McGuire Lectures on Politics, Wealth, Democracy in Latin America

McGuire Authors Book on Wealth, Democracy in East Asia, Latin America

McGuire Author of Wealth, Health, and Democracy