Political science professor José Cheibub and professor of political science and law and director of the University of Illinois's Center for the Study of Democratic Governance Peter Nardulli joined former University of Illinois political science professors Zach Elkins and Tom Ginsburg—among many others—for the University of Chicago Law School's Conference on Comparative Constitutional Design on October 16.

Political science professor José Cheibub and professor of political science and law and director of the University of Illinois's Center for the Study of Democratic Governance Peter Nardulli were among about 40 participants in an APSA conference on "Democracy Audits and Governance Indicators" hosted by the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley on October 30.

Peter Nardulli, professor of political science and law and director of the University of Illinois's Center for the Study of Democratic Governance, moderated a discussion for "Lincoln's Unfinished Work: The Morrill Act and the Future of Higher Education", a national conference held on the University of Illinois campus October 23–24, 2009.

The University of Illinois Institute for Computing in Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (I-CHASS) has announced that political science PhD student Mark Fredrickson will be among the 2009–10 Humanities, Arts, Sciences, Technology, Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC) Scholars.

Craig Chamberlain interviews political science professor José Antonio Cheibub about democratization in Afghanistan for the News Bureau's "A Minute With ..." series. Read the full story here.

Oxford University Press has published Globalization and the New Politics of Embedded Liberalism, by political science professor Jude C. Hays.

Cambridge University Press has published The War Puzzle Revisited, by political science professor and Thomas B. Mackie Scholar in International Relations John A. Vasquez.

A paper co-authored by Professor Scott Althaus and current and former PhD students Nathaniel Swigger, Chris Tiwald, Svitlana Chernykh, David Hendry, and Sergio Wals, "Uplifting Manhood to Wonderful Heights: Newspaper Framing of Casualties from World War One to Gulf War Two", has been awarded the 2009 Paul Lazarsfeld Award for the best paper on political communication presented at the 2008 American Political Science Association's annual meeting by the APSA’s political communication division. The award was announced at this year's meeting in Toronto, Ontario.

Professor Ira Carmen recently announced his decision over this summer to retire from the University of Illinois.

The Department of Political Science has learned that Professor Emeritus Fred Wirt has passed away.