MIT News

News February 2025

MIT Human Insight Collaborative Announces Funding Awards for Inaugural Series of Projects

Professors Lily Tsai and Rebecca Saxe receive MIT funding for their new project on the Science of Respect.

News July 2024

[MIT News] Researchers Study Differences in Attitudes Towards Covid-19 Vaccines between Women and Men in Africa

While women and men self-reported similar vaccination rates, unvaccinated women had less intention to get vaccinated than men.

News November 2023

[MIT News] Rewarding Excellence in Open Data

Graduate research fellow, Jerik Cruz, was one of several recipients of the second annual MIT Prize for Open Data.

News October 2023

[MIT News] Finding Solidarity in the Teachers’ Lounge

MIT PhD candidate Elizabeth Parker-Magyar finds close workplace networks among educators drive their activism even outside of democracies.

News September 2023

[MIT News] Nicole Wilson: The Politics of a Shifting Middle Class in Nigeria

As the middle class in Lagos retreats to private enclaves, political scientist Nicole Wilson ponders the impacts on democratic norms.

News September 2023

[MIT News] Mariama N'Diaye's Design-led Approach to Governance

MIT Morningside Academy for Design Fellow combines her expertise in urban planning and business administration to tackle complex social issues within government systems.

News June 2023

[MIT News] Summer 2023 Recommended Reading from MIT

Enjoy these recent titles from Institute faculty and staff, including a book by MIT GOV/LAB Faculty Associate Professor Noah Nathan.

News June 2023

[MIT News] New MIT Fellowship Supports Student Research on Governance Innovation with Global South Governments

A new cross-institute initiative between MIT Governance Lab, MISTI, and the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center to support graduate student work in public sector innovation.

News May 2023

[MIT News] Governing for Our Descendants

In a recent essay, Professor Lily L. Tsai shares ideas on how to include future generations, who will face the climate crisis we’ve created, in our definition of our collective society.

News April 2023

[MIT News] Championing Health Workers to Lead Vaccination Efforts in Uganda

A survey to measure who was getting vaccinated against Covid-19 in Uganda finds health workers had an important role to play.

News November 2022

[MIT News] Urbanization: No Fast Lane to Transformation

Associate Professor Noah Nathan is generating a body of scholarship on the political impacts of urbanization throughout the global South.

News November 2021

[MIT News] Community Policing in the Global South

Professor Lily Tsai is part of a team examining the challenges of implementing community policing across a range of countries.

News October 2021

[MIT News] Punishment for the People

Professor Lily Tsai’s new book explains how “retributive justice,” the high-profile sanctioning of some in society, helps authoritarians solidify public support.

News August 2021

[MIT News] How Authoritarian Leaders Maintain Support

Study finds public anticorruption campaigns bolster leaders, even when such measures lack tangible results.

News August 2021

[MIT News] Making Voting Easier for Previously Incarcerated People

People rarely vote after being incarcerated. Associate Professor Ariel White wonders what can be done about it.

News July 2021

[MIT News] Study Finds Lockdowns Effective at Reducing Travel in Sierra Leone

MIT researchers use cell tower data to show that movement during Covid-19-related lockdowns declined the most in wealthier areas with more people.

News July 2021

[MIT News] Governance Innovation Bootcamp Culminates in Pitch Night

Civil servants from Sierra Leone present ideas developed at a boot camp organized by MIT Governance Lab and Sierra Leone’s Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation.

News May 2021

[MIT News] Searching for Truth in Data from Authoritarian Regimes

PhD student Minh Trinh studies misreporting of government statistics and the effect on accountability in his home country of Vietnam.

News April 2021

[MIT News] A Guide to When and How to Build Technology for Social Good

The first lesson? Most of the time, you probably shouldn’t build new civic tech.

News March 2021

[MIT News] A New Goal for Soccer: Improving Attitudes Toward Refugees

While a national soccer win can stoke anti-refugee sentiment, messaging promoting diversity can reverse this effect.

News February 2021

[MIT News] Visiting Undergraduates Collaborate with MIT PhD Students on Research through MIT GOV/LAB Mentorship Pilot

Program aims to increase research opportunities and give PhD students mentorship experience.

News January 2021

[MIT News] In Brazil, a Look at Why Health Care Declines Around Elections

Guillermo Toral PhD '20 finds health care quality drops in months leading up to mayoral elections, and if the incumbent loses, the quality continues to fall.

News October 2020

[MIT News] Finding Patterns in the Noise

Shiyao Liu, political science PhD candidate and MIT GOV/LAB graduate research fellow, featured in MIT News.

News August 2020

[MIT News] The Promise of Using WhatsApp for Low-tech Distance Learning

Teaching community organizers via WhatsApp yields encouraging results in South Africa, according to MIT Governance Lab research.

News May 2020

[MIT News] Achieving Advisory Equilibrium

The Committed to Caring program, an initiative of the Office of Graduate Education, published a profile of MIT GOV/LAB Faculty Director Lily Tsai honoring her commitment to graduate student mentorship.

News May 2020

[MIT News] Informing Covid-19 Preparedness in Sierra Leone

MIT News featured an update on MIT GOV/LAB's project with the Institute for Governance Reform and the government of Sierra Leone to conduct rapid-response surveys to address Covid-19.

News February 2020

[MIT News] How Door-to-Door Canvassing Slowed an Epidemic

Study finds that in Liberia, volunteers limited damage from Ebola by distributing information within their own communities.

News October 2019

MIT News Features GOV/LAB Graduate Research Fellow Guillermo Toral

Guillermo Toral's graduate research "Unpacking Patronage: How the Different Political Uses of Public Employment Affect Government Accountability and Effectiveness" was featured in MIT News.

News April 2018

MIT News Features GOV/LAB Research Fellow Tesalia Rizzo

Tesalia Rizzo's graduate research in Mexico "Breaking Up With Political Brokers, Citizens May Find Electoral Independence" was featured in MIT News.

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