Contemporary Black Populism and the Development of Multiracial Electoral Coalitions: The 2018 Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum Gubernatorial Campaigns
Sharon D. Wright Austin uses a populist theoretical framework to examine the 2018 gubernatorial campaigns of Stacey Abrams of Georgia and Andrew Gillum of Florida. She finds that although both candidates attracted the support of voters of all races, they lost because of disappointing turnout rates. She argues that this research provides evidence of the challenges black candidates encounter when seeking to win southern statewide elections through the usage of populist appeals.

How to Stop Jihadist Foreign Fighters
Daniel Byman argues that the threat volunteers for al Qaeda, the Islamic State, and other jihadist groups pose is potentially grave, but that effective policy can profoundly reduce the danger. He argues that governments can disrupt the recruitment and travel of foreign fighters, hinder their time in war zones, and improve policing and intelligence gathering when they return.
   

Local Strategy for China’s Poverty Alleviation Campaign: Incorporating Growth Priorities into Implementation
Qingshan Tan, Jiansheng Liu, and Yuxuan Dang investigate how a local government, facing the challenge of a central policy mandate, acted with innovation and autonomy to carry out poverty alleviation by grafting local interests onto the policy’s implementation in China. They argue that local states’ innovative strategy in integrating local growth objectives with pursuing and fulfilling the central policy can yield positive-sum outcomes for local-central relations and have a more significant impact on local development.  

On the Ordinary People’s Enemies: How Politicians in the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands Communicate Populist Boundaries via Twitter and the Effects on Party Preferences
Michael Hameleers looks at how populist discourse is constructed in different regions that offer different opportunity structures for the “us versus them” frame to be effective. He concludes that established politicians are not likely to use populist ideas on Twitter and that populist ideas only make an impact on vote choice for relatively deprived citizens.

Gender and Support for Democracy in the United States and Canada
Mark Setzler and Alixandra B. Yanus examine gender gaps in support for democracy in the United States and Canada. They find that in both countries, women are modestly less supportive of democracy and key political liberties than men, but the factors that best predict support vary little by gender. They argue that women’s access to material benefits and satisfaction with political institutions have relatively little effect on support for democracy; these attitudes are best explained by civic capital and the belief that rights are protected by government.

Secularity and Non-Religion in American Politics: A Review Essay
Mark Alan Smith reviews the recently published book Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics, by David E. Campbell, Geoffrey C. Layman, and John C. Green. Smith highlights the book’s value in distinguishing secularity from non-religion, along with the insights gained from the authors’ empirical analyses. Smith concludes that the conceptual framework in Secular Surge can usefully guide future research on religion and politics.

Four Threats: The Recurring Crises of American Democracy, Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman
Reviewed by Nolan McCarty

A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy, Russell Muirhead and Nancy L. Rosenblum
Reviewed by Brigitte L. Nacos

Cookbook Politics, Kennan Ferguson
Reviewed by John Ferejohn

The Limits of Party: Congress and Lawmaking in a Polarized Era, James M. Curry and Frances E. Lee
Reviewed by Laurel Harbridge-Yong

The Myth of the Imperial Presidency: How Public Opinion Checks the Unilateral Executive, Dino P. Christenson and Douglas L. Kriner
Reviewed by Chris Edelson

The Return of Great Power Rivalry: Democracy versus Autocracy from the Ancient World to the U.S. and China, Matthew Kroenig
Reviewed by Vasilis Trigkas

Political Entrepreneurs: The Rise of Challenger Parties in Europe, Catherine E. De Vries and Sara B. Hobolt
Reviewed by Jae-Jae Spoon

Blue Metros, Red States: The Shifting Urban-Rural Divide in America’s Swing States, David F. Damore, Robert E. Lang and Karen A. Danielsen
Reviewed by George Hawley

Constitutional Dysfunction on Trial: Congressional Lawsuits and the Separation of Powers, Jasmine Farrier
Reviewed by Aaron M. Houck

The Politics of Institutional Reform: Katrina, Education, and the Second Face of Power, Terry M. Moe
Reviewed by Patrick J. Wolf

Words That Matter: How the News and Social Media Shaped the 2016 Presidential Campaign, Leticia Bode, Ceren Budak, Jonathan M. Ladd, Frank Newport, Josh Pasek, Lisa O. Singh, Stuart N. Soroka and Michael W. Traugott
Reviewed by Glen Smith

Fixing Parental Leave: The Six Month Solution, Gayle Kaufman
Reviewed by William J. Scarborough

Campus Diversity: The Hidden Consensus, John M. Carey, Katherine Clayton and Yusaku Horiuchi
Reviewed by Teniell L. Trolian

Party and Nation: Immigration and Regime Politics in American History, Scot J. Zentner and Michael C. LeMay
Reviewed by Benjamin R. Knoll

Cyber in the Age of Trump, Charlie Mitchell
Reviewed by Robert Allred

Learning One’s Native Tongue: Citizenship, Contestation, and Conflict in America, Tracy B. Strong
Reviewed by Chloé Bakalar

Game Changers: How Dark Money and Super PACs Are Transforming U.S. Campaigns, Henrik M. Schatzinger and Steven E. Martin
Reviewed by Zhao Li

How We Vote: Innovation in American Elections, Kathleen Hale and Mitchell Brown
Reviewed by Thessalia Merivaki

White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity, Robert P. Jones
Reviewed by Biko Mandela Gray

Nixon’s FBI: Hoover, Watergate, and a Bureau in Crisis, Melissa Graves
Reviewed by Ryan D. Williamson

Twenty Years of Service: The Politics of Military Pension Policy and the Long Road to Reform, Brandon J. Archuleta
Reviewed by Matthew Schmidt

Gambling with Violence: State Outsourcing of War in Pakistan and India, Yelena Biberman
Reviewed by Kai M. Thaler

These Islands Are Ours: The Social Construction of Territorial Disputes in Northeast Asia, Alexander Bukh
Reviewed by Boaz Atzili

Patchwork Leviathan: Pockets of Bureaucratic Effectiveness in Developing States, Erin Metz McDonnell
Reviewed by Martha C. Johnson

Hope for Justice and Power: Broad-Based Community Organizing in the Texas Industrial Areas Foundation, Kathleen Staudt
Reviewed by Robert M. Ceresa

Policing the Second Amendment, Jennifer Carlson
Reviewed by Geoff Dancy

Tyranny of Greed: Trump, Corruption, and the Revolution to Come, Timothy K. Kuhner
Reviewed by Paul D. Jorgensen

The Campaign Finance Cases: Buckley, McConnell, Citizens United, and McCutcheon, Melvin I. Urofsky
Reviewed by Eric S. Heberlig